History of the Wondercave The cave was discovered by Italian miners in 1898. They mined out approximately 15% from the formation and brought them to the surface. The formation consist of calcite which they placed in a self built oven for 2 week about 1100 degrees. This formed a powder which was taken by ox wagon to Pretoria & Johannesburg to make cement, toothpaste, use to extract gold and the like. Mining was stopped in 1902 due to the outbreak of war and low productivity. This is the 3rd largest chamber is South Africa, the largest being Cango Caves and second largest Sudwala Caves. Wondercave Entrance The entrance to the cave is going down 87 stair at a 45degrees angle dropping 22 metres below the surface. You will then go down an lift with a drop of a further 18 metres into the cave.