The AECI Modderfontein Dynamite Factory was established in 1894 on several thousand acres (due to the danger of its products) in the rolling hills north-east of Johannesburg. It gradually grew into the biggest dynamite factory in the world, supplying the gold mines of the Witwatersrand, as they needed more and more explosives to reach the ever deeper levels of operation. The production of the first million tons of explosives was achieved in 1953.
The historic suburb of Modderfontein grew up around the factory as the residential area for the factory staff and there are many interesting buildings in the historic precinct, which today have mainly been converted to office use, accommodation establishments and some private residences.
It chronicles the company’s development in South Africa and also touches on its social history at its main factories in Modderfontein, (Gauteng) Somerset West (Western Cape) and Umbogintwini (Kwa-Zulu Natal)
Find out about the famous figures who shaped South Africa’s mining industry and the immigrants who came to South Africa to set up the factory, based on Alfred Nobel’s famous product – DYNAMITE!
