One African city not only has the largest gold mine in the reserve, but it also has the nickname “Gold City” for its wealth of natural resources. After gold was first discovered in the Wittwatersland Basin in 1886, miners quickly established the city of Johannesburg.
This massive gold deposit made Johannesburg a mining hub and set the stage for South Africa to become the world's largest gold producer by the 1970s. The basin has since produced more than 40,000 tons of gold, which accounts for about 22% of all gold on the surface. My vast maze of tunnels stretches over 87 miles of streets, connecting some of the most important resources on the planet.
South Deep Mine in Goldfields is considered to be the world's largest gold mine due to its reserves, and is also the seventh deepest mine in the world, extending nearly 3 km from the surface in the central part of the Whitwaterland Basin.
The first gold, known as a gold mine in the western region until 2000, was mined in 1961, and the life of the South Deep is expected to be extended until 2092.
The underground mine, 28 miles southwest of Johannesburg, is operated via two shaft systems known as the South Shaft Complex and the Twin Shaft Complex.
However, since peaks in the 1970s, gold production fell by 85% between 1980 and 2018, with about 6,000 abandoned mines currently scattering the South African landscape.
Many go beyond the so-called “Golden Ark” that runs from Johannesburg through the Free and Northwest states.
However, millions of ounces of gold are expected to remain underground, and in many cases, it is agitated to increase illegal mining.
According to a 2015 report by the South African Human Rights Commission, there are as many as 30,000 “Zama Zamas,” the local names of informal miners operating in South Africa, most of which are concentrated in and around Johannesburg.
There was also conflict between the Association of Miners, the Construction Union (AMCU) and local gold producers over wages and conditions.
In 2024, South Africa blocked access to the buffelsfontein gold mine west of Johannesburg, blocking food and water in an attempt to push hundreds of miners onto the surface.
