Mining

Tailings are proving lucrative in Gauteng.

Sector Insight

Harmony’s purchase of Mine Waste Solutions is paying off.

Gauteng is home to many old mines which means that the province has to guard against many of the aftereffects of deep mining such as acid mine water and subsidence. The Council for Geoscience is actively engaged in research projects into such issues but the high prices that gold is attracting globally means that another byproduct of mining, tailings, has become more lucrative.

Mine Waste Solutions, a tailings retreatment operation bought by Harmony from AngloGold Ashanti in 2020 and operated by subsidiary Chemwes, has performed well for the group. Production of 2 057kg (66 133oz) of gold in the nine months to June 2021 reflected high productivity at a healthy average gold price of R729 882/kg.

Harmony Gold’s acquisition strategy, including the purchase from AngloGold of Moab Khotsong, will result in it being the country’s biggest gold producer. With 350 000 new ounces coming from Mponeng, it could produce an annual total of 1.7-million ounces.

A new company, Shallow Reefs Gold, has been created to pursue projects in the shallow reefs of the Witwatersrand Gold Basin. The company believes that the grade of the deposits makes for a good economic proposition, especially as the infrastructure required for shallow mining is much cheaper than for the deep mining that has characterised the sector in the past.

Cullinan diamond mine is engaged in an expansion programme called the C-Cut Phase 1 project. Cullinan is famous for its rare blue diamonds. The University of Witwatersrand started life as the South African School of Mines. The School of Mining Engineering at Wits is the highest-ranked school at the university in terms of the QS World University Rankings.

Online Resources

Council for Geoscience: www.geoscience.org.za

Minerals Council South Africa: www.mineralscouncil.org.za

National Department of Mineral Resources: www.dmr.gov.za

Gauteng is home to most of the research and training bodies associated with mining. SibanyeStillwater supports the Wits Mining Institute’s Digital Mining Laboratory (Digimine). AECI, the explosives and chemicals company, sponsors the Virtual Reality Mine Design Centre at the University of Pretoria.

The Mandela Mining Precinct is a joint venture between three government departments and the Minerals Council South Africa which aims to develop research into mining and showcase the country’s manufacturing abilities. Mintek is an autonomous body based in Randburg which receives about 30% of its budget from the Department of Mineral Resources. The balance comes from joint ventures with private sector partners, or is earned in research and development income, the sale of services or products and from technology licensing agreements.

Pretoria University has a Department of Mining Engineering, the University of South Africa offers three national diplomas in minerelated fields, the University of Johannesburg has mine-surveying courses and the Vaal and Tshwane Universities of Technology have engineering faculties. ■