When you talk about coal in South Africa, it’s always best to start with some maths. And history. And geology. And then, of course, there is politics.
The geology is complicated because the time period involved runs into billions of years, and since we still argue about the significance of the Boer War, it’s easy to imagine why it gets complicated pretty quickly. But if you dust away mountains of history and conjecture, the simplistic explanation is that a large chunk of what is now the northern bit of South Africa consisted about a billion years ago of an unusually large, unusually ancient piece of crystalline basement rock, called the Kaapvaal Craton.
Its comparative stability over the next billion years created the foundation for a huge array of metals to gradually deposit through weathering. At the centre of the craton, there was a lake (or possibly the sea), and the rivers into the lake gathered and concentrated metals from the weathering process. Amazingly we now know there were six rivers running into the depression. The result was a stunning array of reefs of different types, including of course, the famous gold reef which happened to jut out of the ground near Johannesburg.
This all happened way before the rinderpest. Actually, it was even before the dinosaurs. Over the years, these metal concentrations were jumbled about, pulled apart, and covered by volcanic activity. The result is a massively complicated geological heritage. But what remains are bits here and there of these reefs, including in Mpumalanga and northern KZN, of large chunks of coal.
HISTORY
Denne historien er fra October/November 2021-utgaven av Stuff Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra October/November 2021-utgaven av Stuff Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Automobili Pininfarina B95 Gotham BAT'S ENTERTAINMENT
More of a Brucemobile, actually. Pininfarina is well-known for its coach-built electric Barchetta, with a price tag that runs into the millions.
HOT STUFF
ALL THE BIGGEST STORIES FROM PLANET TECH
BRAINY BLAZE AND FUN DAYS
Considering a handheld gaming PC? Acer has just made the choice that bit more difficult…
TECH THE HALLS
Santa's elves are busy this year, and they aren't too strong with electronics anyway - so we've lightened their load by bringing you a Christmas Gift Guide so epic that old Saint Nick would be proud, with presents for everyone from gamers through to retro fanatics. Prepare to get spendy...
G6 is just alright
Samsung's latest Odyssey gaming monitor is better than alright... which is just as well if it aims to make QD-OLED a mainstream option
You never can Dell
A Qualcomm chipset should help the XPS 13 retain its status as the go-to Windows ultraportable in the age of Copilot+ smarts... shouldn't it?
Teeny TV Genie
Are you not entertained? Make friends with this Google-fied portable TV and spice up that exceptionally dull camping trip
Squareless whisper
This budget smartwatch sequel from the Nothing sub-brand no longer looks like an Apple Watch wannabe... but can it improve on the original?
Starting from the bottom
It's a good time to buy a budget smartphone. High-end features are cheaper than ever and some, like TCL's wallethugger, look pricier than their tags would suggest.
The alternatives: Apple's new Pro models
The iPhone 16 may be this generation's best value pick, but the Pro range still offers the top level of performance. Here's how they stack up...