Book 3: Migration, Land and Minerals in the Making of South Africa - Chapter 2 - Imperialism and the Union in South Africa by Timothy Keegan
… Republic in a war that was mainly about control of the rich farmlands of the Caledon River valley. The British then … north, modern-day Zimbabwe, was regarded as potentially rich in gold, and the British did not want anybody else … out of the ground. At first it was not realised just how rich the deposits were, until by 1893 new technologies became …