On 3 June 1954, a mining engineer at the Erfdeel farm in the Orange Free State pulled up a drill-core laden with ore from nearly 6,000-feet. The Essayists revealed that, based on the test, the gold ore under Erfdeel farm might be worth as much as $18,000 a ton.
The discovery was declared the richest strike in South Africa's history. According to reports, no shares soared as rapidly as those of Free State Gold Areas, Ltd., the company which owned options on the 4,200-acre Erfdeel farm. A couple of days following the Erfdeel test, the South African Press Association (SAPA) flashed more exhilarating news. A test bore on another farm located close to Erfdeel had reportedly proved even richer.
Within an hour the SAPA revealed, via a bulletin, that the news was not true. Subsequent to that, government police started an investigation of the report and moved in on Promoter Milne's fabulous borehole. Under their supreme watch, Milne drilled another "deflection" test, a boring near the bottom of the shaft, within a few inches of where the first magnificent strike had been made. The test ore was turned over to the government's assayers. Their report claimed that the ore indicated a yield of 2 oz. of gold per ton of ore.
