The year 2023 proved to be an exceptionally demanding period for the global mining industry, with South Africa facing multifaceted and far-reaching challenges. These challenges have pushed the sector into a state of crisis-mode management, which has become the norm in the management of South African mines.

In 2021, we published a report The social and economic contribution of gold mining, which quantified the impact that our members are having in host countries.World Gold Council member companies have committed to demonstrable standards of responsible and sustainable business practice and their data provides a compelling insight into the socio …

Three areas stand out where mining companies can take decisive action in the short term: improve exploration to uncover new reserves, address the currently unreliable and unsustainable energy situation, and enhance the cost position of day-to …

Moreover, many mines, specifically gold mines in South Africa, are reaching the end of their productive life, with ongoing retrenchments. Over the past ten years (between 2010 and 2020), the gold mining industry has shed more than 50,000 jobs (Minerals Council, 2020, p. 29; Minerals Council, 2021, p. 37). These retrenchments …

Gold mining in South Africa resulted in vast volumes of tailings, which have been deposited in impoundments. Poor management of most of the tailings dams resulted in the escape of seepage, adversely affecting soils and water quality. Some tailings dams have been partially or completely reclaimed leaving contaminated footprints. These zones …

Mining pollution cases are rife in Africa. Among the most prominent mining pollution cases in Africa is the Glencore case and the production of acid rain in the Mufulira region of north-western Zambia. 48 million loan to the Mopani Copper Mine (MCM) consortium, Zambia's largest mining company, whose majority shareholder is the Swiss …

South Africa - Diamonds, Gold, Imperialism: South Africa experienced a transformation between 1870, when the diamond rush to Kimberley began, and 1902, when the South African War ended. Midway between these dates, in 1886, the world's largest goldfields were discovered on the Witwatersrand. As the predominantly agrarian …

When visiting The Apartheid Museum, I was struck by the relationship between South Africa's mining industry and the foundations of Apartheid and racial segregation. When gold was first found in what was to become Johannesburg in 1886, The English had literally struck an economic gold mine. This discovery was the trigger of the …

South African mines have recently struggled with depleting reserves and civil unrest. Here are some predictions on the future of mining in South Africa. MT. Menu. Search. ... this recovery has been fuelled by a broader collapse in the South African gold industry. Extraction fell by three-quarters, from over 600Mt in 1993 to just over …

From the construction of infrastructure and schools to skills development and transfer as well as long-term employment, mines have a central part to play in driving positive change in South Africa. While Covid-19 put the brakes on a lot of spending, it is time to focus once more on these initiatives and make 2022 the year of upliftment in ...

Mineral mining is one of South Africa's most important economic drivers. Importantly, the main minerals mined in SA are high value, meaning they lead to economic growth and technological development.Scribante has been involved in the South African mining industry for more than 80 years. In that time, we've seen the impact mining has …

The main environmental impacts of platinum mining Solid waste – tailings dams and waste rock dumps 580 000 tons ore/ton Pt produced; Plus waste rock: 20% – 90% of ore (UGM) Water consumption: 273 to 544 m3/kg PGM (average about 400 m3/kg) Energy consumption (mine, concentrator and smelter): 168 to 256 GJ/ kg PGM CO 2e …

The Local Socioeconomic Effects of Gold Mining Evidence from Ghana Punam Chuhan-Pole Andrew Dabalen Andreas Kotsadam ... no indications of positive spillover effects across districts. This is in line with a public spending ... Ghana is the second-largest gold producer in Africa after South Africa, with gold production averaging 77 tons per year ...

This lesson focuses on the changing balance of power in South Africa brought about by gold mining, and the foundations of racial segregation by exploring Britain, diamond mining and increasing labour control and land expansionism as well as Deep-level gold mining on the Witwatersrand 1886 onwards. ... South African History …

According to Death in South African Mines, an undated study published in the early 1960s by HJ Simons, professor of native law and administration at the University of Cape Town (UCT), 36 000 men had been killed in accidents on South Africa's gold mines since the beginning of the century. He said that the annual death toll on all mines ...

It pollutes water and land with mercury and cyanide, endangering the health of people and ecosystems. Producing gold for one wedding ring alone generates 20 tons of waste. Poisoned Waters. Gold mining can have devastating effects on nearby water resources. Toxic mine waste contains as many as three dozen dangerous chemicals including: …

In South Africa, for example, where gold mining's emissions are rooted in its connectivity to a largely coal-powered grid, the sector's ability to influence government policy to allow ...

The company is spending C$713 million to revive one of the world's former highest-grade gold mines with an initial 12-year life. Henry Lazenby - The Northern …

Mining activities, including prospecting, exploration, construction, operation, maintenance, expansion, abandonment, decommissioning and repurposing of a mine can impact social and environmental systems in a range of positive and negative, and direct and indirect ways. Mining can yield a range of benefits to societies, but it may also …

Anglo-Boer/South African War, brought about to some extent by the struggle for control of the goldfields, caused extreme disruptions in the mining industry, and at some stage, mines were closed 1901 The Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (Wenela) set up by gold miners as a recruiting agent for migrant workers

96 MINING IN AFRICA Map 4.3 Gold Mines and Gold Districts in Mali Gold mines Districts Districts with gold mines Source: Authors' compilation from MineAtlas and IntierraRMG. Empirical Methodology Assessing the Socioeconomic Impact of Gold Mining The discovery and exploitation of gold can introduce durable changes into an economy.

It has however been argued that the incompatibility of ASM with corporate-regulatory structures prevents a purely positive impact of traceability and certification on local production and trade. ... In 2015 for instance, gang battles associated with illegal gold mining were reported in South Africa, as criminal gangs took over control over ...

The development of many Southern African countries is inextricably linked to the mining sector. For example, South Africa's Johannesburg-Pretoria metropolitan …

Gold mining started more than a century ago in the Witwatersrand gold elds, South Africa (Durand, 2012;Hobbs et al., 2010;Phillips and Law, 2000).

In 1886, Anglo American Mining Co. discovered gold at Witwatersrand and began operations. The discovery of diamonds at Kimberley in 1867 spurred a gold rush that led to an influx of miners from all over the world. ... The Economic Impact of Mining on South Africa. ... Mining also has a positive impact on the environment, as it helps to extract ...

Gold mining has serious negative environmental impacts, especially due to pollution emanating from tailings storage facilities (TSFs, tailings dams, slimes dams). The most important forms of pollution from TSFs are acid mine drainage (AMD) and high levels of potentially toxic elements (PTEs). AMD arises from the high levels of pyrite in the …

Making the refining process more thorough and economically viable, gold mining in South Africa projects, such as the ERGO Mines Joint Venture in Brakpan, will facilitate the re-processing of 1.7 billion tonnes of gold tailings to refine a further 15 million ounces of gold.Over 50% of all gold reserves are found in South Africa, where the ...

The positive influence is that coal mining improves the South African economy, expressive of impacts on export, domestic consumption, GDP, and employment. However, coal mining damages the

The African gold mining saga is also a tale of environmental and social responsibilities. The scars of mining – ecological footprints and community impacts – are prompting a reevaluation of ...

While the pandemic caused decreased community inclusion and upliftment, the South African mining industry has recovered well, and it is healthy and productive …