TOURIST INFORMATION
The Town Clerk
Tel: 011 360 6000
Municipal Environment & Tourism Department
Tel: 011 456 0112
Fax: 011 456 0114
Website: www.ekurhuleni.co.za
In 1886, when gold was found on the farm Varkensfontein, the owner of the farm, Petrus Marais, was reading Sir Walter Scott's The Fortunes of Nigel. Marais became a major shareholder in the Nigel Gold Mining Company and many of the street names of the town that subsequently developed around the mine were also taken from this book. Until about 1923 the town remained little more than a mining camp, but after the rich Sub Nigel Mine opened up, the town soon expanded. Nigel is strategically located near the steel and energy areas of the province of Mpumalanga and on the main road and rail routes from Gauteng to Durban Harbour.
