Gold prospectors arrived almost overnight in this township located on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Armed with pickaxes, dozens of fortune seekers flocked to the township of Springs, about 50 kilometers east of the city, to dig in the land in search of gold.
The land that until last week was merely a modest cattle pen surrounded by barbed wire is now the unlikely center of South Africa's latest gold rush. The scene echoes the rush that built Johannesburg, the country's financial capital, in the early 20th century.
The sudden influx of Springs reflects a more general frenzy, with the price of gold having surpassed $5,000 an ounce this year, more than double its January level.
According to gold prospectors, the rush in the township began when someone digging a hole for a fence post noticed the unusual color of the soil and tested it in water. The news spread on social media, and within days the field was crowded with hopeful prospectors.
South Africa, long renowned for its mineral wealth, experienced a similar frenzy in 2021 when crystalline stones found in the KwaZulu-Natal province sparked a diamond rush, before experts confirmed they were simply quartz. The country has a vast clandestine network of artisanal miners.
