Ruins of Tswaing Reduction Works

About Ruins of Tswaing Reduction Works

The Ruins of the Tswaing Reduction Works are the historical industrial remnants of a commercial salt and soda ash extraction plant located inside the Tswaing Meteorite Crater reserve, situated approximately 40 kilometers northwest of Pretoria. Established after SA Alkali Ltd was granted mining rights in 1912, the operation utilized a complex engineering system designed by manager W. Mauss to pump mineral-rich brine from the hyper-saline crater lake up to a reservoir on the rim, which then flowed through a steep passage known as Mauss's Cutting into large concrete warming ponds for refining.

The plant officially ceased operations in 1956 due to declining salt concentrations and economic unviability, leading to the removal of its machinery. Today, the decaying brick walls, foundational structures, and shallow concrete processing tanks are managed by the Ditsong Museums of South Africa and remain accessible to the public as a historical feature along the reserve's 7.5-kilometer hiking trail.