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pencilvanian
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2209 Posts |
 Posted - 11/16/2009 : 19:20:47
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From the sister site goldforum
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IGNOMINIOUS END TO GLORY DAYS
South African gold on final deathwatch as top grade scientist finds residual gold is more than 90% less than claimed
Research shows that production rates should fall permanently below 100 tonnes a year within the coming decade
Author: Barry Sergeant
Posted: Monday , 16 Nov 2009
JOHANNESBURG -
The apparent bottom line in a paper published in the South African Journal of Science is that South Africa's gold industry is on final deathwatch, despite claims of massive existing below-ground reserves. Chris Hartnady, research and technical director of Cape Town earth sciences consultancy Umvoto Africa, has found that South Africa's Witwatersrand goldfields are around 95% exhausted, and anticipates that production rates should fall permanently below 100 tonnes a year within the coming decade.
Gold production from the Witwatersrand, the biggest known gold field in the world, peaked at around 1,000 tonnes in 1970 and has declined ever since. Hartnady says that while initially (1970-1975) the decline was "quite precipitous", it has been interrupted by only short periods of slight trend reversal (1982-1984 and 1992-1993).
More on the story here-
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Edited by - pencilvanian on 11/16/2009 19:23:16 |
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Cody8404
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2009 : 19:30:37
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There are three reasons.
1- The gold is getting harder to find. More dirt needs to be removed for the same amount of gold.
2- The wages are dropping. Most of the miners are getting next to subsistence wages, many are treated like slaves.
3- Items needed to mine like water and electricity are in short supply and are not reliable. Can't run a business when you don't know if the power will be on today.
Because of the above items there is also more theft from the mines. There are estimates that on any given shift 60% of the people working in the mine are not company miners but people hoping to steel a bit of gold to survive on. |
Awake, O kings of the earth! Come ye, O, come ye, with your gold and your silver, to the help of my people, to the house of the daughters of Zion, to the help of the people of the God of this Land even Jesus Christ. |
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pencilvanian
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2209 Posts |
Posted - 11/17/2009 : 16:46:07
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While it is possible that miners are hoping to steal a bit of gold if they can, they are probably dissapointed when they find out that it takes one ton of rock to produce one ounce of gold, and trying to steal one ton of rck is a mighty tough thing to do.
South African gold mines, on average, do not have pure gold veins where a person can just dig out a few nuggets, pocket them, and walk off with them when no one is looking. The gold bearing rock is only a few inches wide, and it still needs to be crushed, mixed with water and cyanide, then reduced and melted down into ingots.
I'm suprised the gold mine owners, with all of their profits from gold mining, never thought to buy generators and fuel to supply themselves with electricity, I guess short sighted bad business managers are a problem the world over. |
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country_bumpkin
Penny Sorter Member
USA
86 Posts |
Posted - 11/17/2009 : 17:24:04
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quote:
Originally posted by Cody8404
Because of the above items there is also more theft from the mines. There are estimates that on any given shift 60% of the people working in the mine are not company miners but people hoping to steel a bit of gold to survive on.
Says who? Considering the gold is in microscopic form as mined, it would be a tough job to fill your pockets with several hundred pounds of rock to smash into flour later.
Maybe you mean diamonds. |
“He who goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing.”
- Benjamin Franklin |
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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
Posted - 11/17/2009 : 18:06:13
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| One of my local PM dealers was telling me this South Africa gold story today. As he tells it only China and Russia have real active mines and they are resistant to sell outside of their countries. |
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Think positive. |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
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South African gold mines in decline?
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