Steelpoort is a mining town on the R555 road in

Sekhukhune District Municipality Sekhukhune is one of the 5 districts of Limpopo province of South Africa. The seat of Sekhukhune is Groblersdal. The majority of its 1,076,840 inhabitants speak Sepedi (2011 Census). The district code is DC47. This district is named after the n ...

in the

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It is located on the border with

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

province. Mining operations around Steelpoort include the Dwarsrivier chrome mine (30 km from Steelpoort, located in Mpumalanga) Assmang chrome: Dwarsrivier mine
/ref> owned by Assmang, Tweefontein chrome mine and Tubatse Ferrochrome, owned by Samancor, Two Rivers and Modikwa platinum mines managed by

Patrice Motsepe Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe (born 28 January 1962) is a South African mining billionaire businessman. Since 12 March 2021, he has been serving as the President of the Confederation of African Football. He is the founder and executive chairman of ...

’s

African Rainbow Minerals African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

, as well as Mototolo platinum mine and the Lion Ferrochrome smelter, both owned by

Xstrata Xstrata plc was an Anglo-Swiss multinational mining company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It was a major producer of coal (and the world's largest exporter of thermal coal), copper, ...

and Marula Platinum (PTY)LTD owned by Impala Platinum. The name ''Steelpoort'' is believed to be derived from a hunting expedition that took place either in the late 19th century or the early 20th century. When a group of Voortrekkers from Natal under Frans Joubert had settled there, a man called Scholtz shot an elephant at dusk and on returning next morning found that the tusks had been removed. The river flowing through the poort was then called

Steelpoort River The Steelpoort River, iNdubazi or Tubatse ( af, Steelpoortrivier) is a river in Limpopo Province, South Africa. It flows northeastwards and is a right hand tributary of the Olifants River, joining it at the lower end of its basin. Its source is ...

(‘steel’ meaning steal). An increase in the mining of chrome and magnetite led to the construction of a railway line between Steelpoort and

Lydenburg Lydenburg, officially known as Mashishing, is a town in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality, on the Mpumalanga highveld, South Africa. It is situated on the Sterkspruit/Dorps River tributary of the Lepelle River at the summit of the Long Tom Pass. ...

in 1924.

References

Populated places in the Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality Mining communities in South Africa {{Limpopo-geo-stub