Argent Silver Mine
By: 
Graham Reeks
Date: 
Sun, 17/09/2017 - 09:30
Venue: 
Dirt road just off of the N12 highway
Branch: 
Northern

Bring: Optional picnic lunch and drinks. Shade is limited. Bring hat, sunscreen, good footwear & walking stick if used.

Booking: Phone Anita Arnott at 011 795 4056 nearer the time

Cost: to be announced nearer the time
 
This outing is to visit the remains of an historical silver–lead mine dating from 1889. The mine was worked for a period of seven years in the 1890s then reopened in 1919 and worked for another seven years. It produced 25 000 tons of lead, 65 tons of silver and 250 tons of copper in its lifetime. The history of the mine involves many of the Randlords, new mining technologies, and new social structures within the mining industry. All of these factors will be explained during the visit to the large site. It is currently an active and exciting industrial and historical archaeological site and the research towards a PhD has revealed many new interesting facts. The walking tour will look at the remains of structures of the silver mine from both time periods as well as the site of
the extensive excavations.

Directions: Please note that it takes about one hour from Pretoria via Bapsfontein and one hour from JHB.

From Johannesburg: Take the N12 towards Witbank. Approximately 20 KM beyond the Delmas on-ramp there is a highway sign and off–ramp  ̳ARGENT–DWAARSFONTEIN‘.
Turn off the highway and at the T-junction turn left. Park and wait at the end of the tarred section of road.

From Pretoria: Travel via Bapsfontein towards Delmas until you reach the N12 highway. Turn onto the highway towards Witbank and look for the ARGENT road sign then turn off as above.

Graham Reeks was born in England where he studied production and mechanical engineering. He immigrated to South Africa in 1972 and spent over 30 years in the mining, paper and paint industries. He completed his Masters at UNISA and is currently working on his PhD through Wits. The focus for his Masters was the Silver Mining Industry in the greater Pretoria region in the 19 th & 20 th centuries. His passion is Industrial Archaeology and the Archeo-geology of ancient mining sites. He was chairman of the branch from 2012-2014.

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