Nigel, an East Rand Mining Town

The Town of Nigel began as a gold Mining Town in the late 1800's. It was named after a book the Prospector, (which is a person who searches for mineral deposits)-Sir Walter Scott, happened to be reading at the time. This books name was: 'The Fortunes of Nigel'. This Town is directly South of Springs and Brakpan and lies in what is known as the East Rand, South East of Johannesburg. Whilst there Gold Mines have recently been closed, the Industrial Area of the Town is responsible for the manufacturing of the Gautrain Rail Cars. Theses were dispatched from the Industrial Area of Nigel, in 2008. Electricity Hardware and Towers are still manufactured here. They then distribute these specialty transformers; electric motors, generators and motor-generator sets, switchgear and switchboard apparatus, relays and industrial controls. The Marievale Bird Sanctuary is situated in the Southern half of the Blesbokspruit RAMSAR site, or Wetland Area. It is also a designated Important Bird Area in South Africa. Blesbokspruit is the only Ramsar Wetland in the Gauteng Province. It is situated 4 km outside Nigel, the Highveld Town is at an altitude of 1,585 m. RAMSAR Sites are Wetlands of International importance, that have been designated under the criteria of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for protecting rare or unique Wetland types or for conserving biological diversity. (This convention was held in India, hence the name!) The Marievale Bird Sanctuary is about 10 km2 in size and comprises numerous, large, shallow water bodies dominated by tall, at times dense stands of emergent vegetation consisting mainly of Phragmites, Typha and Juncus reeds. (These types of Reed are used to encourage microorganisms growth and treat wastewater!)