Mrs. Phillips' presentation on mining in South Africa.

1. Mining in South
Africa

2. What is mining?

3. Mining is the extraction (removal)
of minerals and metals from earth.

4. 1. Cape Town and Cape Penninsula
2. The Winelands
3. Garden Route

5. 4. Johannesburg
5. Kruger National Park
6. Durban Beachfront

6. 7. Robben Island
8. Soweto
9. Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve
10. Wild Coast

7. Why is mining important
when discussing
South Africa??

8. South Africa is also know for its mineral
wealth!! The country is a world leader in
mining.

9. What is mined in South Africa?
• South Africa is the world’s largest producer of
chrome, manganese, platinum, vanadium and
vermiculite.
• Second largest producer of ilmenite,
palladium, rutile and zirconium.
• Third largest coal exporter and iron ore
supplier.

10. What’s Missing

11. •Gold •Diamonds

12. Diamonds in South Africa
• A diamond found in Orange River started
mining in South Africa in 1867
• When diamond deposits were discovered near
Cape Town, thousands rushed in to try and
make money off the diamonds.
• South Africa is one of the most significant
diamond producing countries in the world.

13. Gold in South Africa
• South Africa dominated
global gold production
in the 20th century
• 1970, South Africa
produced more than
half of the world’s gold.
• More recently, South
Africa has fallen to 5th in
world production of
gold.
• More than half of the
gold in the world is
located beneath the
ground in South Africa.
• There are over 35 large
scale mines in South
Africa

14. Common mining methods in S.A.
Underground mining (shaft mining)
• After initial drilling, blasting and equipping of
a mine shaft, tunnels are built leading
outwards from the main shaft so that the gold
reef can be reached. Shaft mining is a
dangerous operation, and roof supports are
needed so that the rock does not collapse. In
addition the intense heat and high pressure
below the surface make shaft mining very
complex, dangerous and expensive

15. Common mining methods in S.A.
Surface mining (open pit mining)
• This type of mining takes place from the
surface of the Earth. Topsoil is removed first
and placed on the side of a trench. Then the
surface layers of rock are removed to expose
the deeper, valuable mineral layers. The
valuable rocks are then blasted into smaller
rocks using explosives.

16. Common mining methods in S.A.
Panning
• Panning for gold is a manual technique that is
used to sort gold from other sediments. Wide,
shallow pans are filled with sand and gravel
(often from river beds) that may contain gold.
Water is added and the pans are shaken so
that the gold is sorted from the rock and other
materials. Because gold is much more dense,
it settles on the bottom of the pan

18. What does mining look
like?

19. Mining Video

20. Benefits of gold and diamond mining
• Mining has made S.A. the richest and most
developed country in Africa
• During the first part of the 1900s, S.A. got so
much money from gold exports that they were
able to buy all sorts of equipment and material to
build a modern country.
– New technology made it possible to build deeper
mines. (some of the deepest mines in the world are in
S.A.)
– Deeper mines = access to more minerals and metals
– More mineral and metals = more money

21. Benefits of gold and diamond mining
• Mining companies pay a large amount of the
taxes collected by the S.A. government.
– funds road building
– schools
– medical care
• About 500,000 people work for mining
companies.
• About 5,000,000 more jobs exist in South Africa
because of mining.
– Transportation of workers and supplies
– Factories that make equipment used in mines

22. The End!
• Everybody makes money
• Lots of jobs
• Gold and diamonds are great

23. The other side of mining in South Africa
• Rain run off from abandoned mines creates
orange puddles.
– Experts say the water contains radioactive minerals
that is deadly to fish and small animals
– Children who play in orange sand sometimes come
home with rashes or have trouble breathing.
– Some soil that has been tested near abandoned mines
have as much as 32 times as much radioactivity as
allowed by law.
– Radioactive material can cause cancer and other
health problems.

24. The other side of mining in South Africa
• South Africa Government
– Let mining companies do whatever they wanted
for many decades.
– They were making so much money from mining
companies that they did not enforce safety or
pollution laws.
– Cost of a clean up would seriously hurt S.A.
economy.
– Government says clean up is a high priority.

25. The other side of mining in South Africa
• Who is benefitting the most economically?
– The owners of the mines and big companies
benefit tremendously from the mines.
– Local workers are paid a wage many times less
than mine workers in developed countries.

26. Illegal Mining
• people go into abandoned mines and try to
mine for gold, diamonds and other metals.
• Illegal mines are patrolled by police
• These illegal miners are sometimes in the
mines for months at a time.
• They are at a great danger of mine collapse,
being robbed or being arrested.

27. Illegal mining video