Mining | Jewellery | Who's
Who Introduction
| Mining Companies | Leading
Mines | South Africa - Mining Introduction |
|
Mining | Jewellery | Who's
Who Introduction
| Mining Companies | Leading
Mines |
South Africa is the world's largest gold producer, with 393.7 tonnes (12.7 million
oz) in 2001, according to the Chamber
of Mines. From 1884 through 2001 it has produced nearly 49,000 tonnes (1,575
million oz), which is around 35% of all gold ever mined. No challenger is in
sight – or likely to be in the foreseeable future.
South Africa is unique. Its gold-bearing reefs are mined down to 4,000 metres (over 13,000 feet) and have not yet bottomed out. The capital required for such deep mining meant that from the start large mining houses capable of raising finance were an essential. So the great names of Anglo American, Gold Fields of South Africa, Rand Mines, Johannesburg Consolidated Investments, General Mining, and Union Corporation soon grew up as mining finance houses. (See also: South African Mining History; South African Mining House Family Tree)
Yet within the last decade the whole character of this home-grown South African industry has changed with 'unbundling' and restructuring of these houses and the closure of famous mines.
The deep mines of South Africa almost belong to another era. Development of new shafts is slow and costly compared to open pit operations that can be quickly brought on-stream in Australia, Peru or the United States. The South African mining houses have ventured abroad, not just elsewhere in Africa, but to Australia, Latin America, and Peru. Equally, Canada's Placer Dome is in a South African joint venture with Western Areas.
The South African gold mining industry may still be the world's biggest, but it is very different not just from 1970 when it produced 1,000 tonnes (32.15 million oz) or 79% of non-communist output, but even from 1990. The change in a decade has been radical.