South Africa: Existing gold and platinum mines will close, says Andy Jackson
Just recently, the mining union AMCU threatened to resume strikes at key platinum-producing deposits over plans by Anglo American Platinum to lay off miners2.
The tensions are exacerbated by a historically fraught relationship between mine owners and the workers, the majority of whom are poor blacks. A spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers recently called South Africa a “white man’s economy with no benefits for poor black mineworkers.”3
Andy Jackson, a key member of our research team at Sprott Global Resource Investments Ltd. is originally from Zimbabwe and worked in Southern Africa as a young geologist. His experience with Africa makes him a great person to talk to about the state of mining in South Africa. I asked him why the situation had deteriorated recently, and what this means for mine production going forward.
“The main mining strengths of the last 120 years in South Africa have been gold, and, slightly more recently, platinum. The gold and platinum deposits in South Africa are unique. Not just because of their size – which is massive – but also their structure. Both the gold and platinum mineralization occurs as gently dipping narrow 'reefs' that are a meter or less thick. The main platinum reefs, the Merensky and the UG2, are both well under a meter thick,” said Andy.
Read More: www.mining.com/web/south-africa-existing-gold-and-platinum-mines-will-close-says-andy-jackson/