GoldPaq

Although gold is found and mined on every continent except Antarctica, one continent continues to produce more gold than any other ? Africa.

Producing more gold than Australia or the United States, Africa leads the world in gold production from its mines, which are the deepest in the world. Although the production of gold in Africa decreased slightly early in the 2000s, gold mining is projected to grow exponentially in the next several years to keep up with increased industrial demand for gold.

Gold mining in Africa is similar to that in other parts of the world, with the exception of mining in the two deepest mines in the world, The East Rand Mine, which is located in Boksburg, extends to a depth of 11,762 feet deep. In TauTona, Carletonville, a mine 13 feet less deep is being mined, and there are plans to extend this mine to bring it to a total depth of in excess of 13,000 feet. This would break the current world record held by the East Rand Mine.

In gold mines as deep as these two, the temperature of the ore is 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

African mines use the same gold mining techniques as are employed in other continents, including deep mining, open pit mining, hard rock mining, and by-product mining.

Like gold mining in the United States and Australia, gold mining in Africa began with a gold rush. When gold was discovered at Witwatersrand in 1886, a gold rush ensued, bringing people from all over the world to Africa in search of gold and fortune. This area was considered an “El Dorado,” or a city of gold, in the folklore of the tribes who lived in and near Witwatersrand. It may not have been El Dorado, but the gold rush that occurred at Witwatersrand did help create the city of Johannesburg, and even contributed to the Second Boer War, in 1899, in which the native African Boers and the British who’d colonized the area clashed.

Witwatersrand was the site of some of the first large-scale industrial gold mining in Africa, and ushered in the era of modern gold mining which persists in Africa even to this day, not unlike the California Gold Rush which modernized gold mining in the United States.

Gold production in Africa continued to increase, and in 1967, to market the gold production in Africa, the government began minting the Kruegerrand, which was the first gold bullion coin minted with the intention of being valued at the market value of the gold it contained. The Krugerrand was also the first gold coin to contain exactly one ounce of fine gold. It was intended from its first minting to allow consumers to build private stores of gold, and because it did have a legal tender status ? inherent in its market value ? it was also collectible on the international market, and became especially popular in the United States, where citizens were at that time prohibited from private ownership of bullion, but were allowed to collect foreign coins.

The Kruegerrand, which is named for its obverse image of Paul Krueger, a Boer resistance leader against the British and the last president of the old South African Republic, is 91.67 percent pure - equal to 22 karats ? and the actual weight of a one ounce Kruegerrand is 1.0909 troy ounces, which is equal to one troy ounce of pure gold. Copper makes up the remaining weight of the Kruegerrand.

Due to the international popularity of the Kruegerrand, three other sizes were introduced in 1980 - half, quarter, and tenth ounce weights.

Between gold mining and marketing of gold coins, Africa derives a large amount of income from the gold that is so prevalent throughout the continent. In 2005, South Africa alone’s gold exports were valued at $3.8 Billion in U.S. Dollars.

Although gold mining in Africa was hampered during much of 2007 by an energy crisis that resulted in rolling blackouts and other power outtages, production of gold in Africa is expected to increase in the next few years, both due to new mines opening and increased demand for gold for industrial applications.

Like other continents that have been blessed with large deposits of gold, Africa has found that this is a mixed blessing. While gold has contributed billions to the economy of Africa and there are other benefits of gold mining, this contribution has come at the price of war and environmental concerns associated with gold mining. However, gold’s importance to Africa does not appear to be abating, and it’s safe to say that much of the world’s supply of gold will continue to originate in Africa for years to come.

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