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1
HINES, ELIZABETH, and MICHAEL SMITH. "THE RUSH STARTED HERE, PART III: ‘THE STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD’—SPECULATION, GREED, AND DISAPPOINTMENT, 1849–2010." Earth Sciences History 42, no. 1 (January 1, 2023): 41–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.17704/1944-6187-42.1.41.
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ABSTRACT Profitable gold mining began in the United States with the accidental discovery in 1799 of a seventeen-pound gold nugget in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. North Carolina’s gold production peaked between the 1830s and 1840s as hundreds of mines contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to the national economy, necessitating the 1837 construction of a federal Branch Mint in Charlotte to process Piedmont gold. Gold mining suffered a major decline in North Carolina after the discovery of the richer and more extensive gold deposits in California in 1848. However, the North Carolina gold miners who did not join the western rush continued to work the shafts of the Piedmont using increasingly sophisticated European and South American technology, as well as new innovations such as hydraulic mining techniques from California, until the advent of the Civil War. From the end of Reconstruction (1877) to 1920, gold mining in North Carolina was sporadic and often funded by outside investors or used as a ruse in gold and stock scams. Copper mining, with gold and silver as secondary products, using increasingly complex technology and associated environmental issues, drove most of the mining fervor during this period. Following the Great Depression of the 1930s, gold production slowly increased until the Second World War, but never became a major industry as they were out-competed by the more profitable gold fields in the western United States, Alaska, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. From the 1970s to today, dependent upon the price of gold in the market and the requirements of environmental regulation, prior mining districts in North (and South) Carolina have continued to be examined, explored and cautiously mined using cyanide heap leach techniques. Although few in number, these limited lease mining projects have extracted over two million troy ounces of gold and nearly a million troy ounces of silver by 2010. Future extraction by the ongoing Haile Mine (South Carolina) project will increase this amount substantially in the next decade. Nevertheless, Cabarrus County continues to hold the world’s record for producing the greatest number of large (a pound or more) gold nuggets and was the epicenter of North America’s first gold rush.
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Holley, Elizabeth A., Oscar Felipe Rodriguez, Stewart D. Redwood, and Nicole M. Smith. "Coexistence of Large-Scale Mining with Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining—A Guide for Geologists." SEG Discovery, no. 130 (July 1, 2022): 22–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.5382/geo-and-mining-16.
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Editor’s note: The aim of the Geology and Mining series is to introduce early career professionals and students to various aspects of mineral exploration, development, and mining in order to share the experiences and insight of each author on the myriad of topics involved with the mineral industry and the ways in which geoscientists contribute to each. Abstract Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) takes place in approximately 80 countries, and it is widespread in parts of Central and South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Estimates range from 40 to 100 million ASM miners operating worldwide, and ASM generates a significant share of global production for commodities such as gold, tantalum, tin, gemstones, and diamonds. Geologists may encounter ASM activity when exploring new areas or when ASM miners move into existing exploration projects or the vicinity of large-scale mines. These interactions can be contentious, leading to conflicts that force project delays or abandonment. Alternatively, both groups can collaborate to generate mutual benefits, enabling mining companies to gain social license to operate and at the same time manage the environmental impacts of ASM, while the ASM miners maintain culturally and economically important livelihoods. Technical and social factors can help to predict the potential for coexistence or conflict with ASM operators, including the geology of the deposit type, the mining method, and the economic, legal, historical, and cultural context of a project. We present a series of case studies on ASM in Latin America, highlighting five coexistence models that have been previously implemented between mining companies and ASM operators. Our intent is to raise awareness of ASM, so that geologists can consciously consider its impacts on early exploration and subsequent decision-making. Secondly, we aim to encourage broader discussion of the role of ASM in mineral production and sustainable development.
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Higginson, John. "Privileging the Machines: American Engineers, Indentured Chinese and White Workers in South Africa's Deep-Level Gold Mines, 1902–1907." International Review of Social History 52, no. 1 (March 9, 2007): 1–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0020859006002768.
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Economists and historians have identified the period between 1870 and 1914 as one marked by the movement of capital and labor across the globe at unprecedented speed. The accompanying spread of the gold standard and industrial techniques contained volatile and ambiguous implications for workers everywhere. Industrial engineers made new machinery and industrial techniques the measure of human effort. The plight of workers in South Africa's deep-level gold mines in the era following the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902 provides a powerful example of just how lethal the new benchmarks of human effort could be. When by 1904 close to 50,000 Africans refused to return to the mines, mining policy began to coalesce around solving the “labor shortage” problem and dramatically reducing working costs. Engineers, especially American engineers, rapidly gained the confidence of the companies that had made large investments in the deep-level mines of the Far East Rand by bringing more than 60,000 indentured Chinese workers to the mines to make up for the postwar shortfall in unskilled labor in late 1904. But the dangerous working conditions that drove African workers away from many of the deep-level mines persisted. Three years later, in 1907, their persistence provoked a bitter strike by white drill-men.
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Chaudhuri, K. N. "Precious metals and mining in the New World: 1500–1800." European Review 2, no. 4 (October 1994): 261–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1062798700001186.
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The discovery of large quantities of gold and silver in the New World following the voyage of Christopher Columbus had a major impact on the subsequent history of the world economy. These two precious metals together with copper were regarded as the standard and measure of value in all societies throughout history. The sudden increase in the supply of gold and silver greatly increased the capacity of individual countries such as Spain and Portugal to finance wars and imports of consumer goods. The new Spanish coin, the real of eight, became an international currency for settling trade balances, and large quantities of these coins were exported to the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and China to purchase oriental commodities such as silk piece goods, cotton textiles, industrial raw material such as indigo, and various kinds of spices, later followed by tea, coffee, and porcelain. The trade in New World gold and silver depended on the development of new and adequate mining techniques in Mexico and Peru to extract the ore and refine the metal. South German mining engineers greatly contributed to the transplantation of European technology to the Americas, and the Spanish-American silver mines utilised the new mercury amalgamation method to extract refined silver from the raw ores. Although the techniques used in Mexico and Peru were not particularly advanced by contemporary European standards, the American mine owners remained in business for more than three hundred years, and the supply of American silver came to be the foundation of the newly rising Indian Ocean world economy in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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Appel, Peter W. U. "Small-scale mining – hazards and opportunities in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia." Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) Bulletin 7 (July 29, 2005): 77–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.34194/geusb.v7.4847.
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Small-scale mining is the main source of income for about 100 million people in Asia, Africa and South America. However, the processing of raw materials during this mining activity results in the release of large amounts of mercury to the environment, creating serious environmental problems. Small-scale mining, or artisanal mining, is exploitation using only shovels, picks and hammers, carried out by individuals or small groups. A wide variety of commodities are exploited in this way, ranging from gold, diamonds, precious stones, tin, coal, dimension stones and slate. Small-scale mining is often carried out by labourers with virtually no knowledge of safety procedures. Tunnel cave-ins leading to loss of life are common, and the widespread use of mercury in gold extraction causes many long-term health problems for the miners. It is estimated that about 650 tonnes of mercury are annually released during small-scale mining to the environment, and this figure is likely to increase in the future. Mercury is highly toxic and its use causes health problems not only for the miners, but also to the entire population in areas where small-scale mining takes place. Some miners are aware of the dangers of using mercury, but have no knowledge of recycling procedures. Several international organisations, such as the World Bank, UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation), ILO (International Labour Organisation) and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), have launched programmes to examine the problems associated with small-scale mining. Progress so far has been slow, and much more international awareness of the global mercury pollution of the environment from smallscale mining is required. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) has worked as consultant to the World Bank on projects involving small-scale mining in Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Laos, and has also undertaken programmes concerning small-scale mining in Lesotho for UNDP and in Tanzania for the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). This paper reports on some of the initiatives carried out in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, to secure and sustain the small-scale mining industry in these regions.
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Wittwer, Paul D. "Epithermal Precious Metal Deposits in South Korea—History and Pursuit." SEG Discovery, no. 125 (April 1, 2021): 19–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.5382/segnews.2021-125.fea-01.
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Abstract The gold and silver endowment of Korea has historically been well known, with records alluding to production as far back as 1122 BC. The main gold production period was from 1925 to 1943 during the Japanese occupation of Korea, with more than 1 Moz recorded in 1939. Muguk was the most productive gold mining operation, located within the central region of South Korea, with a recorded 590 koz of gold produced from 1934 to 1998 (first mined in AD 912). The majority of the historical mining operations were closed by government order in 1943 during the Second World War and never reopened. A number of small mines operated between 1971 and 1998, with limited production during a period of gold prices generally lower than at present (~25–50% of current inflation adjusted prices, apart from a four-year period 1979–83). It is likely that significant resources remain within these historical mining areas. Gold-silver deposit types historically recognized and exploited in Korea include placers and orogenic and intrusion-related vein systems. Only more recently have epithermal vein and breccia systems been recognized. This is not surprising, given that the geologic and tectonic setting of the Southern Korean peninsula is prospective for epithermal precious metal deposits, spatially associated with basin-scale brittle fault systems in Cretaceous volcanic terranes. South Korea is an underexplored jurisdiction, with limited modern exploration and drilling until the mid-1990s, when Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. discovered the Gasado, Eunsan, and Moisan epithermal gold-silver deposits, all of which became mines. Exploration was limited for another 20 years until Southern Gold Ltd., an Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed company, commenced regional-scale exploration for epithermal deposits, using a strategy similar to that successfully employed by Ivanhoe.
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Handley, M. "Where is all the gold?" Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 123, no. 4 (June 8, 2023): 175–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2411-9717/1902/2023.
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The Witwatersrand Basin contains by far the most gold ever found, and has hosted mining from its discovery in 1886 to the present. For many years, South Africa was the world's largest producer of gold, nearly all of which came from the Witwatersrand. Since 2000, South Africa has fallen back several positions because of declining gold output. There are many complex and varied reasons for this; however, declining gold resources in the Witwatersrand Basin are not one of them. As far as the author knows, there are no qualified estimates in the literature of gold remaining in the Witwatersrand Basin. This paper collects mining data from several sources and then, using elementary gold accounting and error analysis, attempts to estimate the amount of gold remaining in the Witwatersrand Basin. It includes gold underground in existing and defunct mines, in evaluated ore resources, and dumps. Compiled data from 1887 to 2019 shows that 50 200 t of gold were produced by Witwatersrand mines, while it is estimated that a further 48 100 t remain underground, both within and outside of mine leases, a further 1 600 t on the surface in tailings, and an unknown amount in rock dumps. Nearly all of this gold will remain inaccessible with current mining methods, and major technical developments in mining will be necessary before any of the gold can be categorized as a code-compliant resource or reserve. To win this prize, the mining industry will have to rethink its approach to mining, both in old mining leases and in the unexploited ground. It will also have to find effective means of preventing gold theft and informal mining, which are on the rise.
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Morrell, Robert. "Farmers, Randlords and the South African state: Confrontation in the Witwatersrand Beef Markets, c. 1920–1923." Journal of African History 27, no. 3 (November 1986): 513–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021853700023306.
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The pervasive importance of gold mining in modern South Africa has become embedded in South African historiography. Despite this, little research has been done to ascertain its impact on the other major sector of the economy, agriculture.The gold mines had a profound effect upon one particular branch of agriculture – beef farming. The mines purchased large amounts of beef and were able to use their buying power to confront beef farmers in the marketplace. In the recession following the First World War, the mines were caught in a profitability crisis that was to lead to the Rand Revolt in 1922. One of the ways in which mining attempted to ease its position was by cutting back on the cost of the meat it supplied to its African labour force. This initially involved co-operation with a powerful cold-storage company, big ranchers and a number of smaller farmers to form a Meat Producers Exchange. This fragile alliance fell apart when farmers, themselves on the verge of bankruptcy, attempted to take control of the Exchange and raise beef prices. The farmers failed and in 1923 the exchange collapsed.The victory of the mining and cold-storage companies rested on a number of factors. Farmers were unable to organize effectively because of the defection of ranchers to the mines. Changing economic conditions in 1922 and 1923 permitted the mines to terminate their co-operation with beef farmers. Finally the mines were able to call upon the state for support. The state ensured the demise of the Exchange and the defeat of the beef farmers. In the process it showed itself capable of intervening decisively to protect the interests of certain sections of capital.
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Cole, Megan J. "A Mine Closure Risk Rating System for South Africa." Mining 4, no. 1 (January 30, 2024): 58–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mining4010005.
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Mine closure is a growing concern in mining countries around the world due to the associated environmental and social impacts. This is particularly true in developing countries like South Africa where poverty, social deprivation and unemployment are widespread and environmental governance is not strong. South Africa has 230 operating mines located in diverse natural and social settings. Over 6 million people live in urban and rural mining host communities who will be significantly affected by mine closure. The national, provincial and local governments need guidance in identifying high-risk areas and relevant policy and programmatic interventions. This paper describes the development of a quantitative mine closure risk rating system that assesses the likelihood of mine closure, the risk of social impact and the risk of environmental impact of mine closure for every operating mine in the country. The paper visualises the high likelihood of closure and environmental impacts for numerous coal and gold mines, and the significant social risks in the deprived rural platinum and chrome mining areas. The rating system was tested with 10 mines and 19 experts, and the resulting maps are communicated in an online South African Mine Closure Risk and Opportunity Atlas. The risk ratings could be used in mine closure planning and management by mining companies, consultancies, governments and affected communities. While this risk rating system has been designed for South Africa, the methodology and framework could be applied to any mining country in the world.
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Xingwana, Lumkwana, Elroy E Smith, and Noxolo Eileen Mazibuko. "Working Environment and Employment Conditions and their Impact on Skills Shortage in South African Gold Mines." Journal of Economics and Management Sciences 2, no. 1 (January 31, 2019): p1. http://dx.doi.org/10.30560/jems.v2n1p1.
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The purpose of the study was to examine the direct relationship and effect of human resource management practices (working environment and employment conditions) on perceived skills shortage among engineers, professionals, and supervisors in the South African gold mines. A sample of 300 engineers, professionals and supervisors was selected by purposive sampling from three selected South African gold mines. For the analysis of the data collected through a self-administered questionnaire, correlation and multiple regression were conducted using Social Package for Social Sciences, version 25. The study revealed that the working environment and employment conditions had a positive significant relationship with the perceived skills shortage in the gold mines. Considering the regression coefficients of two predictors, working environment exerted a greater impact on perceived skills shortage than employment conditions. The benefits of providing an attractive employment condition and supportive working environment create incentives for job satisfaction, employee’s intention to stay and talent retention. The study contributes to the growing research of skills shortage by conducting empirical tests consisting of three variables (perceived skills shortage, working environment, and employment conditions) in the gold mining context.
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Mainardi, Stefano. "Geological occurrence and economic feasibility in closing decisions by gold mines." South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences 2, no. 2 (June 30, 1999): 240–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v2i2.2576.
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With successful exploration of deposits often lagging behind mineral extraction, and the international price of gold showing no signs of recovery, mining companies are under pressure to reassess their strategies. The decision whether or not to close a mining activity is the outcome of a process of adapting expectations to a changing economic and geological environment. Part of the literature emphasizes the role of the mineral price and operating costs. However, the extent, pace and intertemporal allocation of metal recovery is in practice determined by a complex interaction of both these with other factors. Following a review of theoretical interpretations, and a reformulation of associated hypotheses, binary-response models are applied to a sample of gold mines in mainly three major southern hemisphere producers (Australia, South Africa and Chile).
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McCulloch, Jock. "Mining Evidence: South Africa’s Gold Mines and the Career of A. J. Orenstein." Social History of Medicine 31, no. 1 (March 10, 2017): 61–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkx001.
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Christopher, O. A., H. O. Obimba, I. T. Benibo, and L. O. Abegunde. "Potential Impacts of Flooding on Alluvial Gold Mining Activities in Parts of Ilesha-Egbe Gold Field, Osun State, Nigeria." International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science VIII, no. XI (2023): 186–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.51584/ijrias.2023.81116.
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The study mapped mining communities in parts of Ilesha-Egbe gold field in Osun State, South-West (SW) Nigeria, with their respective mining sites, their elevation above sea level and the average depth of mining pits in meters. This was done with a view to determining the potential impacts of flooding on mining activities in these areas. Geological map from Nigeria Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer- Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER-GDEM) from Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) and topographic map from Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation (OSGOF) in Nigeria were used for this study. Geology and topographic maps were interpreted for drainage channels and rivers. These and other information were incorporated in mapping and interpreting the mine localities with their respective characteristics. ASTER-DEM was used to generate elevation information like DEM and slope. Stream ordering was done for the digitized drainages and buffering analysis was done for the respective mining points to determine how the mines will be affected in the event of a flood. Results indicate that the study area is well drained with abundant alluvial gold deposit with mines lying on drainage channel. In the events of flood, mine pit will be filled or partially filled with water and areas with pay-streaks easily flooded. Water runs down slope rather than infiltrates and run-off causes flooding at the lower courses of the water body and this provides for gold dust recharge downstream, opening up new gold exploitation areas.
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Mhlongo, Sphiwe Emmanuel, and George Oluwole Akintola. "Artisanal and small-scale mining activities as post-mining land use in abandoned mine sites: a case of Giyani and Musina areas, Limpopo Province of South Africa." Journal of Degraded and Mining Lands Management 8, no. 3 (April 1, 2021): 2815–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.15243/jdmlm.2021.083.2815.
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South Africa has many artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities that some are registered and others informal and illegal. This paper presents an overview of ASM operations in the vicinity of abandoned mine sites found in Giyani and Musina areas, Limpopo Provine of South Africa. It looks at the mining processes, environmental problems, and health and safety risks of ASM in the area. It also provideds a discussion of practical ways of dealing with the problems of artisanal and small-scale mining operations in a harmonized way with the rehabilitation of the abandoned mine sites. The exploitation of waste rock dumps for aggregate production in Musina demonstrated that formalized ASM activities can be the best alternative uses of the abandoned mine sites. However, artisanal gold mining around Giyani revealed the health and safety risks and environmental problems of these operations. The artisanal gold mining activities worsened the health and safety and the environmental problems of the abandoned mine sites. Therefore, this paper recommends that the efforts of coming up with strategies to formalize and regulate artisanal mining in South Africa be deepened for these activities to be accepteble as sustainable as post-mining land-uses in abandoned mines.
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Das Jennifer, Praveena, and P. Porchelvan. "An approach to assessment of post mining-induced seismic hazard in Kolar Gold Fields mines – a review." Journal of Mines, Metals and Fuels 69, no. 3 (May 12, 2021): 88. http://dx.doi.org/10.18311/jmmf/2021/27784.
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A common challenge faced in underground hardrock mines worldwide is post mining-induced seismicity, as the events have been quite disastrous, causing risk to the structures and lives. In the recent years, many of the worked out mining areas are slowly getting populated and in due course of time shall be posing environmental threat to the people residing above and to the surface structures like sudden void formations or sudden ground collapse becoming visible on the surface. Worked out or closed mines have most of the time shown existence of post mining-induced seismicity signatures. Some of the closed mines showing post mining induced seismicity in Korea, South Africa, Sweden and India are being discussed. Post mining induced seismicity observed in Kolar Gold Fields worked out mine still being felt since closure of deeper levels is discussed. As mining depth increases especially in hard rock mines, magnitude of stress increases, hence, the occurrence and severity of postmining induced seismicity also increases. The problem becomes more serious if proper fund allocation is not done to investigate these areas, may be due to the absence of economic interest once the mine site has been abandoned and in many cases, direct investigations inside the mines may not be possible due to stability problems or due to the ingress of water into the void spaces of the mining area. Several approaches and techniques adopted by researcher’s world over are being discussed in this paper, with a view to gaining insight into the techniques of evaluation of seismic hazard. Seismic vulnerability assessment should integrate the effects of all the seismic events occurring at different locations of mining area during mining and post mining, along with their uncertainties also being considered. Based on the recorded data and some of the derived parameters from previous years, an attempt should be made to evaluate the existing risk prone areas. The past records of induced seismicity due to mining should be used as a precursor for identification of impending future events and their expected probable locations of occurrence. The methods discussed here for assessment of seismic hazard are based on direct waveform and seismic source parameters, parameters from indirect waveform methods, frequency-magnitude relationship based, and frequency content analysis based. From the assessment it is found that the choice of method that can be used depends on the period of monitoring (short-term monitoring, intermediate-term or long-term monitoring) and the objective of the study required to be achieved, this varies on site-to-site basis. The main focus is to show the importance and need to install a micro seismic monitoring system for long term assessment of seismic risk especially in abandoned/worked out mines showing post mining-induced seismicity.
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Farlan, Edi, Indra Indra, and Ahmad Humam Hamid. "Dampak Pertambangan Emas Tradisional Terhadap Perubahan Sosial Ekonomi Masyarakat Di Gampong Mersak Kecamatan Kluet Tengah Kabupaten Aceh Selatan." Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa Pertanian 1, no. 1 (November 1, 2016): 329–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.17969/jimfp.v1i1.1255.
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During the existence of the traditional gold mining in the Mersak Village subdisdtrict of Central Kluet district South Aceh has been a lot changes in local community life. The research methodology used is descriptive method with qualitative approach. Data collection techniques used were interviews, observation, and literature study. Informants in this study consisted of village officials, community leaders and the community of gold miners. Data analysis technique used is the technique of interactive analysis by Milles and Huberman form of data reduction, data presentation and verification / conclusions. The results of the research tells us that the existence of gold mines in the Village Ruin has an impact on the social and economic condition of the community. Negative impact on the gold mining aspects of uncontrolled population movements and worrying, the incidence rate is increasing conflict and transition people's livelihood of farmers to miners who create agricultural infrastructure is not functioning optimally. Also, positive impact on the gold mining aspects of the comprehensive work opportunities for people and rising incomes that can be seen from the high purchasing power. Keywords: Mining, Impact, Social, Economic
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Proenza, Joaquín A., Lisard Torró, and Carl E. Nelson. "Mineral deposits of Latin America and the Caribbean. Preface." Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana 72, no. 3 (November 28, 2020): A250820. http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/bsgm2020v72n3a250820.
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The region that encompasses Latin America and the Caribbean is a preferential destination for mining and mineral exploration, according to the Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020 of the US Geological Survey (https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/). The region contains important resources of copper, gold, silver, nickel, cobalt, iron, niobium, aluminum, zinc, lead, tin, lithium, chromium, and other metals. For example, Chile is the world’s largest copper producer and the second largest lithium producer. Brazil is the world’s leading niobium producer, the second largest producer of iron ore, and the third-ranked producer of tantalum. Cuba contains some of the largest reserves of nickel and cobalt in the world, associated with lateritic Ni-Co deposits. Mexico is traditionally the largest silver producer and contains the two largest mines in this commodity and, along with Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, accounts for more than half of the total amount of global silver production. The region also hosts several world-class gold mines (e.g., Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, Paracotu in Brazil, Veladero in Argentina, and Yanacocha in Peru). Also, Bolivia and Brazil are among the world’s leading producers of tin. The region hosts a variety of deposit types, among which the most outstanding are porphyry copper and epithermal precious metal, bauxite and lateritic nickel, lateritic iron ore from banded iron-formation, iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG), sulfide skarn, volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS), Mississippi Valley type (MVT), primary and weathering-related Nb-bearing minerals associated with alkaline–carbonatite complexes, tin–antimony polymetallic veins, and ophiolitic chromite. This special issue on Mineral Deposits of Latin America and the Caribbean in the Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana contains nineteen papers. Contributions describe mineral deposits from Mexico, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina. This volume of papers covers four mineral systems (mafic-ultramafic orthomagmatic mineral systems, porphyry-skarn-epithermal mineral systems, iron oxide copper-gold mineral systems, and surficial mineral systems). This special issue also includes papers on industrial minerals, techniques for ore discovery (predictive modelling of mineral exploration using GIS), regional metallogeny and mining history.
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Proenza, Joaquín A., Lisard Torró, and Carl E. Nelson. "Mineral deposits of Latin America and the Caribbean. Preface." Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana 72, no. 3 (November 28, 2020): P250820. http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/bsgm2020v72n3p250820.
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The region that encompasses Latin America and the Caribbean is a preferential destination for mining and mineral exploration, according to the Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020 of the US Geological Survey (https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/). The region contains important resources of copper, gold, silver, nickel, cobalt, iron, niobium, aluminum, zinc, lead, tin, lithium, chromium, and other metals. For example, Chile is the world’s largest copper producer and the second largest lithium producer. Brazil is the world’s leading niobium producer, the second largest producer of iron ore, and the third-ranked producer of tantalum. Cuba contains some of the largest reserves of nickel and cobalt in the world, associated with lateritic Ni-Co deposits. Mexico is traditionally the largest silver producer and contains the two largest mines in this commodity and, along with Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, accounts for more than half of the total amount of global silver production. The region also hosts several world-class gold mines (e.g., Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, Paracotu in Brazil, Veladero in Argentina, and Yanacocha in Peru). Also, Bolivia and Brazil are among the world’s leading producers of tin. The region hosts a variety of deposit types, among which the most outstanding are porphyry copper and epithermal precious metal, bauxite and lateritic nickel, lateritic iron ore from banded iron-formation, iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG), sulfide skarn, volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS), Mississippi Valley type (MVT), primary and weathering-related Nb-bearing minerals associated with alkaline–carbonatite complexes, tin–antimony polymetallic veins, and ophiolitic chromite. This special issue on Mineral Deposits of Latin America and the Caribbean in the Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana contains nineteen papers. Contributions describe mineral deposits from Mexico, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina. This volume of papers covers four mineral systems (mafic-ultramafic orthomagmatic mineral systems, porphyry-skarn-epithermal mineral systems, iron oxide copper-gold mineral systems, and surficial mineral systems). This special issue also includes papers on industrial minerals, techniques for ore discovery (predictive modelling of mineral exploration using GIS), regional metallogeny and mining history.
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Caromba, Claudio, Corné Schutte, and Jean van Laar. "Application of Clustering Techniques for Improved Energy Benchmarking on Deep-Level Mines." Energies 16, no. 19 (September 29, 2023): 6879. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en16196879.
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The South African mining industry relies on coal-based energy to run operations, with the sector utilising 29.6 terawatt-hours of energy in 2018. However, energy availability constraints and swelling electricity prices in the country have instilled a greater emphasis on energy management practices to reduce waste and maintain profitability. Energy benchmarking is a popular and effective energy management method applied in industry, but the current methods in the mining sector use the average energy usage of various mining shafts over different intervals to develop benchmarks. This may lead to skewed benchmarks when anomalous energy usage is present within the interval or when vastly different energy users are aggregated. However, clustering-based benchmarking techniques have been applied successfully in other industries to compare similar energy users accurately. This study developed and applied a clustering-based benchmarking method to evaluate the performance of different mining shafts at a deep-level gold mine in South Africa. The K-means unsupervised learning clustering algorithm was used to group similar energy users and benchmark different mining shafts using ordinary least squares regression equations. Compared to traditional methods, the benefit of clustered energy usage benchmarks is shown by more accurately evaluating energy performance and facilitating focused energy management responses.
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Kwenda, Geoffrey, Gavin J. Churchyard, Catherine Thorrold, Ian Heron, Karen Stevenson, Adriano G. Duse, and Elsé Marais. "Molecular characterisation of clinical and environmental isolates of Mycobacterium kansasii isolates from South African gold mines." Journal of Water and Health 13, no. 1 (June 21, 2014): 190–202. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wh.2014.161.
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Mycobacterium kansasii (M. kansasii) is a major cause of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease in the South African gold-mining workforce, but the source of infection and molecular epidemiology are unknown. This study investigated the presence of M. kansasii in gold and coal mine and associated hostel water supplies and compared the genetic diversity of clinical and environmental isolates of M. kansasii. Five M. kansasii and ten other potentially pathogenic mycobacteria were cultured mainly from showerhead biofilms. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction analysis of the hsp65 gene on 196 clinical and environmental M. kansasii isolates revealed 160 subtype I, eight subtype II and six subtype IV strains. Twenty-two isolates did not show the typical M. kansasii restriction patterns, suggesting that these isolates may represent new subtypes of M. kansasii. In contrast to the clonal population structure found amongst the subtype I isolates from studies in other countries, DNA fingerprinting of 114 clinical and three environmental subtype I isolates demonstrated genetic diversity amongst the isolates. This study demonstrated that showerheads are possible sources of M. kansasii and other pathogenic non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection in a gold-mining region, that subtype I is the major clinical isolate of M. kansasii strain and that this subtype exhibits genetic diversity.
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Pelders, J., F. Magweregwede, and S. M. Rupprecht. "Optimization of shift cycles in the South African mining sector." Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 121, no. 8 (October 13, 2021): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2411-9717/1428/2021.
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Increased depths of conventional gold and platinum mines, longer travelling times as working places move further from the shaft, and ancillary activities taking place in the mining cycle reduce the useable time spent at the workface. Current shift lengths of 8 hours 20 minutes may no longer be adequate to complete required mining activities.The impact of mineworker commuting times on shift work is also not well understood. The aim of this research was to draft a framework to optimize shift cycles in order to maximize productivity, health, safety, and wellness in the South African mining sector. The framework was informed by a review of the literature, case studies at a local gold mine and platinum mine, and a workshop with industry experts. The findings indicate potential advantages of extended shift lengths and continuous operations, such as improved productivity, asset utilization, and employee morale. However, concerns included fatigue and the associated safety hazards, particularly when working longer shifts, night shifts, and numerous consecutive shifts. Job demands, personal factors, and commuting times are further considerations when scheduling shifts. The ideal shift system for the mining sector should holistically consider and balance operational requirements, health and safety, and employees' and their families' requirements, and suit the unique needs of each operation. Changes in shift cycles will require a structured change management process, which involves all stakeholders, and could help to enhance the viability of the South African mining sector.
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Packard, Randall M. "The Invention of the ‘Tropical Worker’: Medical Research and the Quest for Central African Labor on the South African Gold Mines, 1903–36." Journal of African History 34, no. 2 (July 1993): 271–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021853700033351.
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In 1903 the South African mining industry began recruiting African labor from Central Africa in order to shore up their labor supplies. From the outset, Central African recruitment was problematic, for Central African mine workers died at very high rates. The primary source of Central African mortality was pneumonia. In response to this high mortality the Union government threatened to close down Central African recruitment, a threat which they carried out in 1913. From 1911 to 1933, the mining industry fought to maintain, and then after 1913 to regain access to Central African labor. Of central importance in this struggle were efforts to develop a vaccine against pneumonia. While the mine medical community failed to produce an effective vaccine against pneumonia, the Chamber of Mines successfully employed the promise of a vaccine eventually to regain access to Central African Labor in 1934. The mines achieved this goal by controlling the terrain of discourse on the health of Central African workers, directing attention away from the unhealthy conditions of mine labor and toward the imagined cultural and biological peculiarities of these workers. In doing so the mines constructed a new social category, ‘tropical workers’ or ‘tropicals’. The paper explores the political, economic and intellectual environment within which this cultural construction was created and employed.
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Olebogeng, David Daw. "Challenges and Opportunity of Housing for Black Miner in South Africa." European Journal of Economics and Business Studies 6, no. 1 (January 1, 2020): 28. http://dx.doi.org/10.26417/ejes.v6i1.p28-36.
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Mine companies are experiencing a change in the political system of the country (South Africa). This political change from apartheid government to the government of Democratic has brought about a totally different system of government; this change has led to the transformation of mines companies from employment section to housing of mineworkers from their operation system, how are the mines companies / houses dealing with this change? Changes in the political and economy of the gold mining in the 1970s - 1980s have prompted management to begin moving away from migratory labour and implementing alternative accommodation strategies for black mine workers. The paper aims to provide some understanding of the current housing situation and housing needs of mineworkers more than a decade after the abolition of the legislation which had shaped the living environments of mineworkers in South Africa, and will look at the different I alternative approaches for housing black mine workers and how they can afford housing.
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Ndlovu, N., G. Richards, N. Vorajee, and J. Murray. "Silicosis and pulmonary tuberculosis in deceased female South African miners." Occupational Medicine 69, no. 4 (May 23, 2019): 272–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqz067.
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Abstract Background Implementation of South Africa’s 2002 Mining Charter increased women’s participation in underground mining. However, occupational lung diseases (OLDs) in female gold miners have not been studied. Aims To compare autopsy-diagnosed pulmonary silicosis, lymph gland silicosis (a precursor of pulmonary silicosis) and active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in South African gold miners. Methods The law allows for autopsies on miners for OLD compensation. Information is stored on the Pathology Automation (PATHAUT) database. We selected records of deceased miners who had worked only in gold mines, started employment from 2002, and were autopsied between 2005 and 2015. Using descriptive statistics, we compared demographic and employment characteristics, and disease proportions by sex. Results The study comprised 847 gold miners: 68 women and 779 men. There were no statistically significant differences in proportions of autopsy-diagnosed pulmonary silicosis [3 (4%) in women and 54 (7%) in men], lymph gland silicosis [11 (16%) and 171 (22%)] or PTB [29 (43%) and 254 (33%)]. Age and employment duration in women and men with disease were similar. Most miners with pulmonary silicosis had started employment from 2003 [315 (77%)] and worked for under 10 years. Conclusion It is important to report research findings by sex. Proportions of silicosis and PTB were comparable in women and men, suggesting similar exposures. Silicosis detection after short employment indicates inadequate dust control, particularly as most entered the industry after implementation of interventions to control silica dust in 2003.
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MacLeod, Roy. "Of Men and Mining Education: The School of Mines at the University of Sydney." Earth Sciences History 19, no. 2 (January 1, 2000): 192–215. http://dx.doi.org/10.17704/eshi.19.2.r471574657lj2m7h.
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Colonial Australian science grew by a process of transplantation, adaptation, and innovation in response to local conditions. The discovery of gold in 1851, and the location of vast resources of other minerals, transformed the colonies, as it did the imperial economy. In this process, the role of mining engineering and mining education played a significant part. Its history, long neglected by historians, illuminates the ways in which the colonial universities sought to guide and direct this engine of change, conscious both of overseas precedent and local necessity. This paper considers the particular circumstances of New South Wales, and the role of the University of Sydney, in seizing the day—and producing a degree—that lasted nearly a century.
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A. Rantšo, Tšepiso, and Maseeiso Ralitjeleng-Mahlelebe. "The Impact of Basotho Migrant Labourers’ Retrenchment from South African Mines on Rural Development in Lesotho: The Post-Mine Livelihood Strategies of Former Basotho Miners at Koro-Koro in the Maseru District." African Journal of Development Studies (formerly AFFRIKA Journal of Politics, Economics and Society) 13, no. 2 (June 1, 2023): 241–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.31920/2634-3649/2023/v13n2a12.
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The migration of Basotho men in search of employment opportunities in South African diamond and gold mines dates back to the 1800s. The South African mining industry has been the source of employment and livelihood for many Basotho families by remitting incomes for centuries. However, there was a downturn in events starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when many South African mines started to downsize their foreign labour force. This contributed to the loss of remittances that were invested in farming and the maintenance of many rural households in Lesotho. This study was conducted to investigate the post-mine livelihood strategies of former Basotho migrant labourers at Koro-Koro in the Maseru district. The research followed a descriptive research design where primary data was collected from a sample of 50 former Basotho mine workers using snowballing and simple random sampling techniques. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using face-to-face interviews and observation. The collected data was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using descriptive statistics, mainly percentages. It is argued in this paper that retrenchment and the loss of jobs by many Basotho men in South African mines were major blows to the livelihoods of many rural households. In addition, Basotho men who worked in South African mines are now confronted with unemployment as well as futile exertions while engaging in alternative income generating activities, both farm and non-farm.
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Marques, Leonardo. "The Making of a Slave-Trading Entrepôt: Rio de Janeiro in the Economic Spaces of Mining, 1565-1763." Culture & History Digital Journal 12, no. 2 (August 31, 2023): e019. http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/chdj.2023.019.
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This work explores the making of Rio de Janeiro as a key supplier of enslaved Africans to the silver and gold mining areas of Latin America over the early modern period. The city became a critical component of the South Atlantic system during the long seventeenth century, supplying captives to Spanish America in exchange for Peruvian silver. In the following century, it became an essential part of the Brazilian gold boom that radically transformed Portuguese America. The article discusses the role of coerced Amerindian and African labor in the creation of the basic city structures that allowed for the reproduction of those connections to mining zones and reflects on the broader meanings of this story, framing the specific history of Rio de Janeiro within the broader context of a capitalist world economy.
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Gibbs, Pat. "Coal, Rail and Victorians in the South African Veld. The Convergence of Colonial Elites and Finance Capital in the Stormberg Mountains of the Eastern Cape, 1880–1910." Britain and the World 11, no. 2 (September 2018): 173–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/brw.2018.0298.
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This article investigates an intermediary period in the Cape colony when the largely unknown convergence of British social and industrial capital around coal mining occurred in the Stormberg Mountains of the North Eastern Cape. Within the context of a triangular nexus of mining and its two major clients, the diamond mines at Kimberley and the newly arrived Cape Government Railway, a social coalescence of mainly British immigrants arose in the town of Molteno, exhibiting an distinctly British Victorian culture. This paper also shows how the town became a colonial enclave on the remote periphery of the Cape Colony, utilising a racialised class system, and the ways in which the singularity of Victorian society was emphasised by two surrounding cultures which were alien to the British. After the South African War ended, one of these cultures had begun to take root within the town. When the coal mines were brought to an end by the erratic orders of the Cape Government Railway and its access to superior and cheaper coal from Lewis and Marks at Viljoensdrift in the ZAR and the greater economic pull of the Rand gold mines which diverted labour to the north, this ‘colonial moment’ in the Stormberg was over.
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Cando Jácome, Marcelo, A. M. Martinez-Graña, and V. Valdés. "Detection of Terrain Deformations Using InSAR Techniques in Relation to Results on Terrain Subsidence (Ciudad de Zaruma, Ecuador)." Remote Sensing 12, no. 10 (May 17, 2020): 1598. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs12101598.
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In Zaruma city, located in the El Oro province, Ecuador, gold mines have been exploited since before the colonial period. According to the chroniclers of that time, 2700 tons of gold were sent to Spain. This exploitation continued in the colonial, republican, and current periods. The legalized mining operation, with foreign companies such as South Development Company (SADCO) and national companies such as the Associated Industrial Mining Company (CIMA), exploited the mines legally until they dissolved and gave rise to small associations, artisanal mining, and, with them, illegal mining. Illegal underground mining is generated without order and technical direction, and cuts mineralized veins in andesitic rocks, volcanic breccia, tuffs and dacitic porphyry that have been intensely weatherized from surface to more than 80 meters depth. These rocks have become totally altered soils and saprolites, which have caused the destabilization of the mining galleries and the superficial collapse of the topographic relief. The illegal miners, called "Sableros", after a period of exploitation at one site, when the gold grade decreased, abandon these illegal mines to begin other mining work at other sites near mineralized veins or near legalized mining galleries in operation. Due to this anthropic activity of illegal exploitation through the mining galleries and “piques” that remain under the colonial center of the city, sinkings have occurred in various sectors detected and reported in various technical reports since 1995. The Ecuadorian Government has been unable to control these illegal mining activities. The indicators of initial subsidence of the terrain are small movements that accumulate over a time and that can be detected with InSAR technology in large areas, improving the traditional detection performed with geodetic instrumentation such as total stations and geodetic marks. Recent subsidence at Fe y Alegría-La Immaculada School, the city’s hospital and Gonzalo Pizarro Street, indicates that there is active subsidence in these and other sectors of the city. The dynamic triggers that have possibly accelerated the rate of subsidence and landslides on the slopes are earthquakes (5 to 6 Mw) and heavy rains in deforested areas. Although several sinks and active subsidence caused by underground mining were detected in these sectors and in other sectors in previous decades, which were detailed in various reports of geological hazards prepared by specialized institutions, underground mining has continued under the colonial city center. In view of the existing risk, this article presents a forecasting methodology for the constant monitoring of long-term soil subsidence, especially in the center of the colonial city, which is a national cultural heritage and candidate for the cultural heritage of humanity. This is a proposal for the use of synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) for the subsidence analysis of topographic relief in the colonial area of the city of Zaruma by illegal mining galleries.
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Wright, C. Y., M. Matooane, M. A. Oosthuizen, and N. Phala. "Risk perceptions of dust and its impacts among communities living in a mining area of the Witwatersrand, South Africa." Clean Air Journal 24, no. 1 (June 3, 2014): 22–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/caj/2014/24/1.7052.
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Mining is a major economic activity in many developing countries. In South Africa, gold mining has played a significant role in the development and sustenance of the country's economy, with both positive and negative consequences. In gold mining areas, tailings dams and mine dumps are significant sources of ambient dust, known to be a nuisance, and health risk, to communities living near them and who must find appropriate coping mechanisms to protect themselves. A qualitative study based on five focus groups with sixty-two participants of different ages and sex was carried out in the Witwatersrand mining district of South Africa. All focus groups agreed that they had noticed dust in the air where they live, stating that the dust came largely from mine dumps but also from other sources. They agreed that the dust causes, among others, health problems, and both short-term and long-term coping mechanisms for protecting themselves against excess dust were mentioned yet considered inadequate, i.e. closing windows and doors, watering their yards, paving their yards and planting trees. Little support from government, mines and other organisations was identified as an important perceived barrier to resolving the dust problem. Means for communication of communities' perceptions of the impacts, risks and possible mitigation / adaption measures associated with dust need to be created and supported in a formal risk management plan.
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Huang, Mingwei. "The Chinese Century and the City of Gold: Rethinking Race and Capitalism." Public Culture 33, no. 2 (May 1, 2021): 193–217. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/08992363-8917178.
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Abstract This article tells a story about the unfolding “Chinese Century” in South Africa centered on China Malls, wholesale shopping centers for Chinese goods that have cropped up along Johannesburg's old mining belt since the early 2000s. Based in ethnographic and historical analysis, the essay takes a palimpsestic approach to imagine how Chinese capital enters into a terrain profoundly shaped by race, labor, and migration and is entangled with the afterlives of gold. Chinese migrant traders in South Africa draw on legacies of migrant mine labor and refashion processes that devalue Black labor. Whereas these histories are lost upon Chinese newcomers, African workers experience working for “the Chinese” through the memory of the mines. With the aim of theorizing emergent formations of race and capital in the Chinese Century, the essay threads this new epoch through the history of colonial and racial capitalism of the City of Gold.
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Gool, Selim Y., and Allan H. Jeeves. "Migrant Labour in South Africa's Mining Economy: The Struggle for the Gold Mines' Labour Supply 1890-1920." International Journal of African Historical Studies 19, no. 3 (1986): 546. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/219001.
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Klein, Martin A., and Alan H. Jeeves. "Migrant Labour in South Africa's Mining Economy: The Struggle for the Gold Mines' Labour Supply 1890-1920." International Journal 41, no. 4 (1986): 895. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/40202419.
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Rotberg, Robert I., and Allan H. Jeeves. "Migrant Labour in South Africa's Mining Economy: The Struggle for the Gold Mines' Labour Supply, 1890-1920." American Historical Review 91, no. 3 (June 1986): 718. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1869263.
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Vail, Leroy, and Alan H. Jeeves. "Migrant Labour in South Africa's Mining Economy: The Struggle for the Gold Mines' Labour Supply, 1890-1920." Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines 21, no. 2 (1987): 284. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/484391.
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Ouboter, Paul E., Gwendolyn A. Landburg, Jan H. M. Quik, Jan H. A. Mol, and Frank van der Lugt. "Mercury Levels in Pristine and Gold Mining Impacted Aquatic Ecosystems of Suriname, South America." AMBIO 41, no. 8 (June 6, 2012): 873–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0299-9.
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Donkor, Augustine K., Hossein Ghoveisi, and Jean-Claude J. Bonzongo. "Use of Metallic Mercury in Artisanal Gold Mining by Amalgamation: A Review of Temporal and Spatial Trends and Environmental Pollution." Minerals 14, no. 6 (May 28, 2024): 555. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/min14060555.
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The introduction of mercury (Hg) into the environment by anthropogenic activities has resulted in negative implications for ecosystem functions and human health. Unlike the legacy of huge environmental pollution left by historic gold rushes in several developed countries, gold-rich nations in the developing world are currently witnessing what could qualify as a “new gold rush”, conducted primarily by small-scale mining operators and characterized by the use of metallic Hg (Hg0) in the amalgamation process to extract gold from crude ores. Once introduced into the environment, Hg0 can undergo biogeochemical transformations to produce Hg species such as methyl-Hg, with well-established adverse impacts on living organisms. This review summarizes published data on both historical and recent trends of the use of Hg0 in artisanal gold mining (AGM) on a global scale and emphasizes the impacts of AGM on the environment. To achieve this, we used citations from research conducted in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, obtained from several search engines and databases. Our findings show that, in addition to the well-known environmental and human health adverse effects of gold mining with Hg0, gold extraction by the Hg amalgamation technique is boosting the economy in parts of Africa, South America, and Asia. Unfortunately, this appealing aspect of AGM may not be easily halted, pending the creation of alternative employment. Therefore, there is a clear need for the development of safe and affordable gold extraction and purification technologies. Ultimately, the growth of this specific economic sector should be regulated to help protect both the environment and human health. Information compiled in this review should help to (i) improve the mapping of AGM-impacted soil and aquatic systems on a global scale and (ii) stimulate discussions and research on how to take down current barriers to the development and implementation of safe AGM methods.
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OLIVERO, J., and B. SOLANO. "Mercury in environmental samples from a waterbody contaminated by gold mining in Colombia, South America." Science of The Total Environment 217, no. 1-2 (June 11, 1998): 83–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0048-9697(98)00175-2.
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Lander, Stacey L., Margot Hosie, and Desiré Brits. "The Diagenetic Alterations of Historic Skeletons from the Crown Mines Cemetery, South Africa." Biology 12, no. 3 (February 27, 2023): 378. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology12030378.
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Human skeletons associated with early gold mining in Johannesburg, South Africa are investigated. An unmarked cemetery was buried beneath a mine dump which resulted in macroscopically stained and poorly preserved bones. Histological assessments were conducted to understand the postmortem treatment of the remains, determine the extent of bone degradation, and understand how this environment affected the bone’s microstructure. Various diagenetic alterations and the general histological index were assessed using normal and polarized light microscopy of thin anterior midshaft femur sections (n = 50). Degradation was identified in the periosteal and endosteal regions, while the intra-cortical region remained well-preserved. Bacterial bioerosion, microcracks, infiltrations, inclusions, and staining were found throughout the sample. Numerous non-Wedl micro-foci of destruction were observed, filled with exogenous material. The degradation suggested that the remains were buried in neutral soil that was subsequently covered by acidic mine dumps which resulted in a corrosive environment. Although the skeletons were poorly preserved, their histological integrity was more promising, especially the intra-cortical area. This is important for future investigations of archaeological bone, as this area can lead to more accurate descriptions of skeletal assemblages. Targeted sampling of this region could produce promising estimates of age, descriptions of pathology, and biomolecular results, which require further study.
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Goldblatt, Beth, and Shirin M. Rai. "Recognizing the Full Costs of Care? Compensation for Families in South Africa’s Silicosis Class Action." Social & Legal Studies 27, no. 6 (November 15, 2017): 671–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0964663917739455.
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This article concerns recognition and compensation of the intimate, gendered work of caring by family members for workers who became ill with lung diseases as a result of poor labour conditions in the mines in South Africa. It focuses on a recent decision by a court in South Africa ( Nkala and Others v. Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited and Others, 2016) that took the unusual step of acknowledging this care work and attempting to compensate it indirectly. The article combines insights from political economy and law within a feminist frame to develop an argument about compensation for social reproductive work to address the harm experienced by the carers of mineworkers. Using the theory of depletion through social reproduction, it suggests ways of understanding the costs of care in order to fully compensate the harms suffered by the carers. This is done with reference to a photographic essay by Thom Pierce called ‘The Price of Gold’ taken in the mineworkers’ homes after their discharge from work due to illness. The article argues that ideas of depletion should inform any consideration of compensation of people engaged in caring in a range of reparatory contexts.
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Ahmad, Shabbir. "Innovation and Drivers of Productivity: A Global Analysis of Selected Critical Minerals." Commodities 2, no. 4 (November 24, 2023): 417–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/commodities2040024.
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Innovation and technology are important tools for delivering efficiency and productivity improvement in the minerals sector. The uptake of technologies has proven to be an important lever for increasing the productivity of the mining sector. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of mine-level productivity using global data of copper, gold, and platinum from 1991 to 2020. Various drivers of productivity have been analysed to draw policy insights. Empirical findings reveal significant disparities in terms of technical efficiency and productivity across mines and regions. The further decomposition of total factor productivity (TFP) into its different components suggests that the adoption of innovative practices and investment in technology adoption could improve the overall productivity of these commodities sectors. Our findings also suggest that an appropriate input mix and optimal scale of production could boost platinum mining productivity. Regional disparities in the productivity of different commodities sectors (e.g., South Africa vs. Zimbabwe) give policymakers insights into how to support production scale and productivity through appropriate input mixes.
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Watson, L. Cynthia, Jorge L. Hurtado-Gonzales, Christopher J. Chin, and Juliana Persaud. "Survey of Methylmercury Exposures and Risk Factors Among Indigenous Communities in Guyana, South America." Journal of Health and Pollution 10, no. 26 (June 2020): 200604. http://dx.doi.org/10.5696/2156-9614-10.26.200604.
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Background. Gold mining activities in forested areas across Guyana have been a common practice for more than a century. The intensification of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in recent decades caused by global market demand is contributing to the mobilization of mercury into aquatic systems. Indigenous populations who consume high levels of locally sourced fish are greater at risk for methylmercury poisoning from ingestion of contaminated fish. Objectives. The aim of the present study was to investigate the levels of mercury contamination and identify the risk factors associated with hair mercury levels in four indigenous communities in Guyana. Methods. Concentrations of total mercury were measured in hair samples from 99 participants from four indigenous communities in the south Rupununi region in Guyana. The findings of this study were compared with those of previous studies to assess the prevalence of mercury contamination in indigenous communities across Guyana. Results. Hair mercury levels were found to be above the World Health Organization (WHO) reference value for residents who live close to ASGM activities and who consume high quantities of locally sourced fish. Our results are not only consistent with those obtained in previous studies, but also evidence that mercury poisoning has become a generalized problem for indigenous communities in Guyana. Conclusions. Fish is the main source of protein for many riverine communities and consumption of mercury-contaminated fish poses a serious health hazard for these vulnerable populations. The situation is especially dire for community members of Parabara with 100% of participants showing elevated (>15 μg*g−1) hair mercury levels. It is therefore crucial that Parabara residents be evaluated by relevant health agencies for clinical symptoms related to mercury toxicity. Participant Consent. Obtained Ethics Approval. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Ministry of Public Health, Guyana. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests.
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Fair, Ryan, Jean van Laar, Kristy Nell, Diaan Nell, and Edward Mathews. "SIMULATING THE SENSITIVITY OF UNDERGROUND VENTILATION NETWORKS TO FLUCTUATING AMBIENT CONDITIONS." South African Journal of Industrial Engineering 32, no. 2 (2021): 45–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.7166/32-3-2616.
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The weather directly impacts ventilation systems, especially large industrial systems found in underground mines. Underground mine ventilation systems have high cost implications that add to the financial strains and uncertainties of future mining operations. In addition, the dynamic nature of underground ventilation systems makes the accurate prediction of underground conditions extremely difficult using traditional steady-state methods. Therefore, improved prediction methods of dynamic underground environmental conditions are needed to ensure cost-effective ventilation systems. This paper investigates simulating the sensitivity that underground ventilation systems have to fluctuating ambient conditions. Simulation software was applied to a case study on a gold mine in South Africa. The results showed that transient software can now be applied to entire mine ventilation systems, and can improve predicting the underground environment because of fluctuating ambient conditions.
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Ionescu, Lavinel G. "ANTONIO DE ULLOA, DISCOVERER OF PLATINUM." SOUTHERN BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY 6, no. 7 (December 20, 1998): 1–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.48141/sbjchem.v6.n7.1998.4_1998_2.pdf.
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Don Antonio de Ulloa, a member of a distinguished Spanish family, was born in 1716 and died in 1795. He studied physics and mathematics and was a member of many scientific societies, including the Academy of Sciences of Paris and the Royal Society of London. He traveled widely in Europe and the Americas and occupied many important positions, including those of Frigate Captain, Commander of the Royal Squadron of the Spanish Armada, Goverment of Huancavelica -Peru, Louisiana, and Florida. In l735, while a member of a scientific expedition sent by the Spanish and French governments to South America to measure a degree of meridian in Quito, close to the equator, he discovered platinum in the mines of Lavadero or wash gold in the district of Choco.
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В.В., НИКИФОРОВА,. "Problems and Prospects of Sustainable Development of the Gold Mining Industry in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)." Vestnik of North-Eastern Federal University. Series "Economics. Sociology. Culturology", no. 4(28) (December 25, 2022): 70–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.25587/svfu.2022.18.82.009.
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Республика Саха (Якутия) является одним из старопромышленных регионов России, еще в начале XX в. в Южной Якутии стали создаваться первые золотодобывающие прииски. Сегодня золотодобывающая промышленность является одной из стратегических отраслей экономики страны, следовательно, исследование его состояния особенно актуально в настоящее нестабильное время, вызванное последними событиями в мировой экономике. На территории Республики Саха (Якутия) сосредоточены крупные золоторудные месторождения: Нежданинское, Кючус, Куранахское рудное поле, Гросс, Таборное, Токко, Бадран, также россыпи р. Большой Куранах, расположенные на Южно-Якутском, Верхне-Индигирском, Аллах-Юньском, Куларском и Адычанском золотоносных районах, которые в настоящее время разрабатываются крупными золотодобывающими холдингами страны: ПАО «Полюс Золото», АО «Полиметалл», Nord Gold, ПАО «Высочайший» (GV Gold) и др. Цель данной работы ‒ на основе анализа современного состояния золотодобывающей отрасли Республики Саха (Якутия) выявить проблемы и перспективы устойчивого сбалансированного развития отрасли. Для достижения цели поставлены следующие задачи: анализ минерально-сырьевой базы рудного и россыпного золота, структуры золотодобывающей отрасли региона, исследование ресурсного потенциала основных недропользователей, структурирование проблем устойчивого развития отрасли по минерально-сырьевому, экономическому, институционально-организационному и экологическому составляющим. В исследовании применены методы факторного, системного и динамического анализа, основанные на данных официальной региональной статистики, отраслевых и производственных данных предприятий золотодобывающей отрасли. В статье составлен рейтинг золотодобывающих муниципальных районов региона, также крупных рудных месторождений. Выявлены проблемы устойчивого развития золотодобывающей отрасли, также объекты ближайшей и дальнейшей перспективы, дана прогнозная оценка добычи золота в регионе. The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is one of the old industrial regions of Russia, with the first gold mines starting to appear in Southern Yakutia in the early 20th century. Today, the gold mining industry is one of the strategic sectors of the country’s economy, therefore, the study of its condition is especially relevant at the present unstable time caused by recent events in the world economy. The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)is home to large gold deposits: Nezhdaninskoye, Kuchus, Kuranakhskoye ore field, Gross, Tabornoye, Tokko, Badran, as well as placers of the Bolshoy Kuranakh River, located in the South Yakutian, Upper Indigirka, Allakh Yun, Kular and Adychan gold-bearing areas, which are currently being developed by large gold mining holdings of the country: PJSC “Polyus Gold”, JSC “Polymetal”, Nord Gold, PJSC “Vysochajshij” (GV Gold), etc. The purpose of this article is to identify the problems and prospects of sustainable balanced development of the industry based on the analysis of the current state of the gold mining industry in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). To achieve the goal, the following tasks are set: an analysis of the mineral resource base of ore and placer gold; the structure of the gold mining industry in the region; research of the resource potential of the main subsurface users; structuring the problems of sustainable development of the industry by mineral, economic, institutional, organizational and environmental components. The research uses the methods of factor, system and dynamic analysis based on official regional statistics, industry and production data of gold mining enterprises. The article contains a rating of gold-mining municipal districts of the region, as well as large ore deposits. The problems of sustainable development of the gold mining industry are identified, as well as objects of the near and future prospects, a forecast assessment of gold production in the region is given.
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Weiersbye, I. M., E. T. F. Witkowski, and M. Reichardt. "Floristic composition of gold and uranium tailings dams, and adjacent polluted areas, on South Africa’s deep-level mines." Bothalia 36, no. 1 (August 20, 2006): 101–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/abc.v36i1.349.
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Gold and uranium tailings (‘slimes’) dams and the adjacent polluted soils in the deep-level mining regions of South Africa (Carletonville, Klerksdorp and Welkom) were surveyed for the frequency of occurrence of naturally colonizing, actively introduced and persisting plant species. Fifty-six tailings dams with a combined area of 5864 ha. and a similar area o f tail- ings-polluted soils, were surveyed between July 1996 and March 1997. During the survey, 376 plant species and subspecies were recorded from the dams and adjacent polluted soils, with an additional 8 6 records obtained between 1998 and 2003 (i.e. a total of 462 taxa: species and infraspecific species). Overall, the most commonly represented families were the Poaceae (107 species and subspecies), Asteraceae (81). Fabaceae (55) and Anacardiaceae (16). with other families represented by just one to 14 species. Only 60 species were common to all three regions, and of these 24 had been introduced during rehabilitation attempts. Most of the species found on tailings were persisters or natural colonizers (53-88%, depending on substrate), with the vast majority being indigenous and perennial taxa (76% and 85% respectively), with semi-woody to woody growth forms (6 6% being resprouters, forbs, shrubs and trees). Less than 4% of the naturally-colonizing taxa found during the survey had also been introduced by vegetation practitioners. The majority of introduced plants were alien herbaceous taxa. The number and frequency of annuals was only high on recently vegetated sites, whereas annuals were rarely present on old-vegetated and never-vegetated dams. This list includes a wide range of indigenous plant species that may be suitable for phytoremediation of tailings dams and polluted soils due to their apparent tolerance of acid mine drainage and salinity.
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Tafur, Victor. "Water Law, Mining and Hydro-Energy Conflicts in South America: Tales from the Andes and Patagonia." International Journal of Rural Law and Policy, no. 1 (October 23, 2011): 1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/ijrlp.i1.2011.2601.
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Conflicts in connection with hydro-energy and mining activities vis-à-vis other water uses, mainly human consumption, agriculture, industry, tourism, or even the essential flows needed for ecosystem protection, call into question whether South America’s path in the 21st Century will be characterized as ‘open veins’ (borrowing from the title of Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano’s book) or sustainable development. In this era of ‘New Conquistadors’, as some have called it, the key question is whether water law and environmental legal frameworks in the region are fit to deal with the pressure posed by these extracting industries. The paper seeks to contribute to this debate by discussing legal issues in connection with a controversial gold mining project in the Argentina-Chile border and a hydro-energy project in the Chilean Patagonia. The goal of the paper is to provide a South American perspective of water law through the lens of conflict. The paper concludes that water-related conflicts in these projects reveal weaknesses in the regulatory scheme for such endeavours and underscores the need to adopt reforms or implement mechanisms to ensure that water resources are adequately assessed, protected, and monitored.
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Pretorius, C. C., W. F. Trewick, A. Fourie, and C. Irons. "Application of 3-D seismics to mine planning at Vaal Reefs gold mine, number 10 shaft, Republic of South Africa." GEOPHYSICS 65, no. 6 (November 2000): 1862–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1190/1.1444870.
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During 1994, a 3-D seismic reflection survey was undertaken at Vaal Reefs No. 10 shaft with the objective of mapping the detailed structure of the Ventersdorp contact reef gold orebody. This would provide vital input into future mine planning and development. The survey benefitted from 10 years of 2-D seismic experience and one previous 3-D mine survey, conducted in the Witwatersrand Basin. The seismic survey at No. 10 shaft accurately and spectacularly delineated the 3-D structure of the Ventersdorp contact reef at depths ranging from 1000 to 3500 m, imaging faults with throws in the 20- to 1200-m range. The resultant structure plans were satisfactorily validated by subsequent surface drilling and underground mapping mining operations during the period 1994 to 1996. These plans have been merged with drillhole, underground, and sampling data into an integrated mine modeling, gold reserve estimation, and mine scheduling package. The geology department now manages the planning function at No. 10 shaft, and 3-D seismics has played a significant role in placing this important responsibility firmly within the geologists’ domain. Building on the success of the No. 10 shaft survey, two other 3-D seismic surveys were concluded over mines during 1996 and 1997.
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Chirif, Bruno Sanguinetti, Francisco Román Dañobeytia, and Gorka Atxuara. "Management and restoration of degraded areas by gold mining activity in madre de dios." South Florida Journal of Development 2, no. 4 (September 20, 2021): 5925–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.46932/sfjdv2n4-072.
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This document synthesizes a model for the restoration of degraded areas by gold mining, developed between 2008 and 2016 by the Consortium Madre de Dios CMDD with the Florida University, and the support of the Government and People of the United States of America. This successful reforestation experience, continued by CMDD and CEDE, as well as by CINCIA, is part of an environmental management proposal, which with the support of communication tools and knowledge management has included the education of children with mental disabilities due to effects mercury contamination in alluvial gold mining; and since 2016 with CMDD CEDE and the Ministry of Energy and Mines MINEM, through effective interaction between stakeholders has strengthened governance and incorporated an environmental mitigation component with clean technologies. In the context of the current controversial and polemic political situation in Peru (2021) 21 miners' associations in process of being formalized in Madre de Dios are considering their implementation.
Este documento sintetiza un modelo de restauración de áreas degradadas por la minería de oro, desarrollado entre 2008 y 2016 por el Consorcio Madre de Dios CMDD con la Universidad Florida, y el apoyo del Gobierno y del Pueblo de los Estados Unidos de América. Esta exitosa experiencia de reforestación, continuada por CMDD y CEDE, así como por CINCIA, es parte de una propuesta de gestión ambiental, la cual con el apoyo de herramientas de comunicación y gestión del conocimiento ha incluido la educación de niños con discapacidad mental por efectos de contaminación por mercurio en la minería aluvial aurífera; y desde 2016 con CMDD CEDE y el Ministerio de Energía y Minas MINEM, mediante efectiva interacción entre las partes ha fortalecido la gobernanza e incorporado un componente de mitigación ambiental con tecnologías limpias. En el marco de la actual controversial y polémica coyuntura política del Perú (2021) 21 asociaciones de mineros en proceso de formalización en Madre de Dios están considerando su implementación.
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WAETJEN, THEMBISA. "POPPIES AND GOLD: OPIUM AND LAW-MAKING ON THE WITWATERSRAND, 1904–10." Journal of African History 57, no. 3 (November 2016): 391–416. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021853716000335.
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AbstractIn the wake of the South African war, the indenture and transport of over 63,000 Chinese men to gold mines in the Transvaal sparked a rush to supply smoking opium to a literally captive market. Embroiled in a growing political economy of mass intoxication, state lawmakers shifted official policy from prohibition to provision. Their innovation of an industrial drug maintenance bureaucracy, developed on behalf of mining capital in alliance with organized pharmacy and medicine, ran counter to local trends of policy reform and represents a unique episode for broader histories of modern narcotics regulation. This article considers the significance of this case and chronicles the contradictory interests and ideologies that informed political scrambles over legitimate opium uses, users, and profiteers. It shows how the state maintained its provision policy, for as long as it proved expedient, against varied and mounting public pressures – local and international – for renewed drug suppression. The argument here is that the state managed an epidemic of addiction on the Rand as an extraordinary problem of demography. It achieved this both through redefining smoking opium from intoxicant to mine medicine and through the legal construction of a ‘special biochemical zone’, which corresponded with the exceptional status and spatial segregation of a despised alien labour force.