At a first glance, the Witwatersrand basin, the largest known gold resource on our planet, is not automatically related to ocean research. “Witwatersrand Metallogenesis: The Case For (Modified) Syngenesis” (. Novo Resources is working on paleoplacer projects in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, while Inventus has a project in the Huronian Basin near Sudbury, Canada. The Witwatersrand Nigel Gold Mine is a underground mining operation. Another find by Pieter Jacob Marais was recorded in 1853 on the Jukskei River, but was subject to similar secrecy. With photos, facts, and figures about its impact on the growth of the region, the history of precious metals in the area, and the people that have mined the gold from the ground, even up to today. Get notified when we add new content at Geology for Investors.Subscribers get free access to our most recently published Knowledge Base article! o Conditions underground. One side effect of early and very long term mining are the huge tailing piles from the old mines. The entire series of rocks, known as the "Witwatersrand Supergroup," consists of very hard erosion resistant quartzites, banded ironstones and some marine lava deposits, interspersed with softer, more easily eroded tillites, mudstones and conglomerates. Make sense of mining company investments. To accompany the handbook, The Mineral Resources of the Union of South Africa" 1959. The site was first discovered in 1932 by Dr. R. Krahmann, West Witwatersrand Areas Ltd. Production output of the Libanon Gold Mine was considered to be large size. The Witwatersrand Nigel Gold Mine is near Springs, South Africa. Includes map of the Klerksdorp and Heidelberg district and key and supplementary map showing the sections Witwatersrand's golf fields. Layers of sedimentary rock in the Witwatersrand show that is was once a shallow sea. The Company ceased mining operations and is in the process of mine closure. You can scroll down to find more maps of this location. Many deposits are either deeply buried or have been mined to the point that only the deeper deposits remain. general location on regional map) Given that the Witwatersrand gold deposits outcrop over a very wide area either side of Johannesburg the goldfield is commonly divided into three districts; namely Central, Eastern and Western.  In this hypothesis, gold was “caught” and precipitated out in microbial mats as it was transported by the rivers. Located in South Africa, the Witwatersrand Basin represents the richest gold field ever discovered. As mentioned, the deposits are can be very, very deep. The collection contains record books originating from the former gold mines Robinson Deep Gold Mining Company, Luipaardsvlei Estate and Gold Mining Company, Rietfontein Consolidated Mines and few unidentified. Union of South Africa. Although a rare exploration target, junior exploration companies Novo Resources and Inventus Mining have paleoplacers related projects. The placer model proposes the gold deposited by an ancient river systems that eroded it from surrounding greenstone belts. It is the presence of these spectacular waterfalls that has given the scarp its … In: Goldfarb RJ, Nielsen RL (eds) Integrated methods for discovery: global exploration in the twenty-first century. The Witwatersrand plateau consists of a 5000-to-7000-metre-thick (3.1–4.3 mi) layer of mainly sedimentary rocks laid down over a period of about 260 million years, starting approximately 2.97 billion years ago. As time passed, the tents disappeared and people began to build houses, offices and shops. In 1886, after years of rumors, legends, and smaller discoveries, it was definitively established that there was a huge, rich deposit of gold under the Witwatersrand, a rocky ridge in South Africa. Davis, an English miner. The head frame of the Tau Tona Mine is the lone entrance to over 500 miles of tunnels. Shafts go down some 3,900 meters be… ... Area map, Witwatersrand / Relief shown by spot heights. Get directions, maps, and traffic for Witwatersrand Gold Mining, Gauteng. Though there were smaller mining operations in the region, it wasn’t until 1884 and the subsequent 1886 discovery at Langlaagte that the Witwatersrand gold rush got under way in ea… Text on verso (English and Afrikaans) details unfolding events in a narrative titled: "Twenty-four Hours on a Witwatersrand Gold Mine." Check flight prices and hotel availability for your visit. It has an average elevation of around 5,600 feet. Chapters 19, 21 (Book), Kirk et al. The gold fields of the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa are, by a landslide, the largest single gold producing district in the world. Wall map. Production does not come easy though. Narrow your search with advanced settings, such as Years (from/to), Fulltext, Publisher, etc. A brief overview of the history and development of Witwatersrand, the famous gold mine of South Africa. / Shows land ownership of gold fields. General map of the witwatersrand gold fields. Using the map tool, users can zoom in to obtain reports and data on past and present mines, mine prospects, and processing plants. [Pretoria] : Department of Mines, Union of South Africa. This sea was formed approximately 3 billion years ago after the collision between the Zimbabwe and Kaapvaal cratons. Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources Phone and Map of Address: 70 Fox St, Marshalltown, Gauteng, 2001, South Africa, Johannesburg, Business Reviews, Consumer Complaints and Ratings for Gold Mines in Johannesburg. The project is adjacent to the Venterspost underground mine to the south and the Cooke 1 and 2 mines previously operated by Sibanye-Stillwater to the East. , Share Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain), Radefeld, Carl Christian Franz, 1788-1874. Delfstofkaart van die Unie van Suid-Afrika." The Witwatersrand Supergroup contains more uranium than gold and the Witwatersrand gold mines are in fact also uranium mines. The hydrothermal model proposes that gold entered the basin via the permeable conglomerate horizons via hydrothermal activity and was precipitated out, around the pyrite and uranium. Finally, the area was preserved when a massive meteorite hit and formed the Vredefort dome. The conglomerates are rich in pyrite (iron sulfide) pebbles and uraninite (uranium oxide) pointing to an anoxic atmosphere. Popular theories include hydrothermal, placer and biological precipitation theories.  Witwatersrand is a picturesque, 35-mile long escarpment in the Guateng Province of South Africa. The region is at the centre of South African gold mining, which has permanently marked the man-made landscape with its many spoil heaps and pits. Mineral Map of the Union of South Africa. Schematic illustration of the geotectonic environments of formation for gold-bearing ore deposits. Uranium was originally mined as a by-product of the gold mining industry in Gauteng and the West Rand (Von Backström, 1976). These instructions will show you how to find historical maps online. A. Hein1, and Nick King3 ABSTRACT Inrushes of ground water and the ignition of flammable gases pose risks to workers in deep South African gold mines. o The Randlords and the formation of the Chamber of Mines. All of the data can be downloaded for further use and analysis. Contact Now! The gold mines in this area are possibly the deepest mines in the world (mining operations at 3600 m and exploration core-drilling up to 4600m). Mine operations consist of underground workings. West Wits Mining (ASX:WWI) is an experienced gold exploration and development company focused on transforming world class mineral resources into gold. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Resources Data System catalogs information about mineral resources around the United States and the world. In mining terms, the Pilbara is synonymous with iron ore.It is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of seaborne ore and has played a large part in establishing the fortunes of the big miners BHP and Rio Tinto and in more recent times Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s Fortescue.Famously, Lang Hancock and his partner Peter Wright discovered the massive iron ore deposits later called Hope Downs in 1952, although government geologist Harr…  Goldmann's map, Witwatersrand gold fields : S.A.R. The basin was then overlain by the “Ventersdorp and Transvaal supergroups” (see map below) which buried the gold-bearing sequence under 23 kilometres of sediments and volcanic rocks. Other mining towns sprang up as well. A final hypothesis is of bio-chemical precipitation. Part 1, Great Deposits – Grasberg Part 3 – Mining and Engineering, Great Deposits – Slovakia’s Banská Štiavnica Mining District, John Reed’s Doorstop: America’s First Gold Rush was Not in California, CuEq Metal Equivalent Calculator for Mining Results, Cigar Lake Mine: the World’s Largest Uranium Producer, Bathurst Mining Camp: One of the World’s Great Base Metal Districts, Geology of the PGE Deposits in the Bushveld Complex, South Africa, Emerald Heart of Africa: The Kagem Mine, Kafubu Mining Area, Zambia. On 14 September 1886, the first large mining company on the Reef, the Witwatersrand Gold Mining Company, was formed with a total nominal capital of £3,063,000. +Scope and urgency of the problem (cont.) in American Scientist “The Origin of Gold in South Africa” Nov 2003 (, Laurence J. Robb and F. Michael Meyer “The Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa: Geological framework and mineralization processes” from Ore Geology Reviews June 1995 (, Horscroft et al. It has produced some 2 billion ounces over a century of mining and at an average grade of 15 g/t Au with a current head grade of 6-10 g/t Au and they still have estimated reserves of some 1,161 billion ounces (36,000 tonnes). Old Gold: An Introduction to Archean Greenstone Belts, SEDEX: The Biggest Lead and Zinc Deposits in the World, Decoding the JORC Code: An Overview for Investors, Adapting Petroleum Geophysics for Mineral Exploration, Brian F. Windley “The Evolving Continents” 3rd edition 1995. The map gives an overview of the ethnic, social and economic differentiation in the Witwatersrand Region, with the metropolis of Johannesburg at its heart. Click here and draw a rectangle over the map to precisely define the search area. 2. To view a schematic overview of each of these zones click the appropriate map Its name means “Ridge of White Waters.” The highland, which forms the watershed between the Vaal and Limpopo rivers, is about 62 miles (100 km) long and 23 miles (37 km) wide; its average elevation is about 5,600 3D edge detection seismic attributes used to map potential conduits for water and methane in deep gold mines in the Witwatersrand basin, South Africa Musa S. D. Manzi1, Raymond J. Durrheim2, Kim A. ”¢ Deep-level gold mining on the Witwatersrand 1886 onwards - Why gold is valuable - The discovery and mining of deep level gold on the Witwatersrand. These are currently being re-processed to extract the remaining gold. There are a … Share on  The Witwatersrand gold fields of South Africa account for more than a third of the world's total gold production since mining started there in 1886: 48,000 t Au.  The oldest rocks (laid down 2.97 billion years … The first discovery of gold in the region is recorded as being in 1852 in the Pardekraal farm by J.H. Metal Mining in Peru – The Emergence of a Global Giant? Builders were very busy. Evidence for this comes from the facts that the gold is older than the host rock, the gold is found almost exclusively in the conglomerates and some gold shows a flattened, circular appearance, indicative of water transport. Still, they support many of the largest gold companies in the world including Harmony, Sibanye, Goldfields, and AngloGold-Ashanti. Extensive debate still exists on the source of gold mineralization. As of yet there is no consensus, but further research will yield new insights into this fascinating phenomena. It occurs across four provinces in South Africa. USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). © Copyright 2021, GEOLOGYFORINVESTORS.COM All Rights Reserved, Largest Gold Deposits in the World – Witwatersrand Gold Fields, Cerro Rico: The Greatest of the Great. Mine operations consist of 2 distinct underground workings. The consolidated Gold Fields of south Africa, Limited 1 : 60000 This curve is called the Witwatersrand, the Rand for short. As the Witswatersrand has accumulated a massive literature of studies going back some 100 years the following are a mere sample. Evidence for this is the dendritic appearance of some of the gold nuggets, and lack of gold in the proposed source rock preserved in the placer deposits. This pushed up a core area but pulled the surrounding crust down and protected the basin from erosion. Introduction The gold fields of the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa are, by a landslide, the largest single gold producing… The actual gold deposits themselves are quite thin and the surrounding rock matrix is very hard. Witwatersrand Gold Mining Company Limited is a former South African gold mining company. The Witwatersrand Goldfields comprise the world’s biggest gold deposit, responsible for more than 40% of the gold ever mined on Earth. However neither have come close to the size of the Witwatersrand. Accompanied by walking stick in which map was attached to. A map showing the distribution of coal and Witwatersrand Basin gold deposits. Sign Up for the Precious Metals Digest Sign Up Basin infilling resulted in more than 11 kilometers of sedimentary rocks and some volcanic rocks. Techniques such as cyanidization, or the removal and concentration of gold with cyanide was developed in response to the difficulties encountered by 19th century miners in the Witwatersrand. See the results of your search on the right side. With Oil and Gas his experience is primarily in the Madison, Bakken and Nisku Petroleum systems of Southern Alberta/ Northern Montana. Initial production took place in 1940 and overall output was considered to be medium size. Ancient river systems feeding into the basin eroded the surrounding highlands and over a period of about 260 million years, deposited layers of quartz pebble conglomerates, sandstones and shales. DWAF Water for Growth & Development Framework Ver 7, 2009: “present and immediate” threat in the central and western basins of the Witwatersrand mine systems that requires “urgent intervention” “As a consequence of the absence of operational pumping facilities, the Central Basin has flooded to within 900m of the surface, threatening the Shafts go down some 3,900 meters below the surface, where temperatures reach 60° Celcius (140° F) and deadly rockfalls are common. o How gold is mined. Andrew's experience covers all aspects of the resource venture capital from project evaluation, IPO's, fundraising, investor relations, cartography, technical report writing, exploration program design, with an applied expertise in mineral exploration in porphyry copper deposits, Athabasca unconformity uranium deposits, RIRG's (reduced intrusive related gold) deposits and layered mafic intrusion Ni-Cu-PGM deposits. A foreland basin is …  Gold mines & mineral rights of the Greater Witwatersrand and Orange Free State. . These mining towns form a form a curve on the map. The gold deposits located in this basin make up the largest known concentration of gold ..... 5 3. Similar Witwatersrand type deposits have been found such as the Tarkwa Gold Fields in Ghana, Africa and the Jacobina Gold Deposit in Brazil. Legends in English and Afrikaans. Largest Gold Deposits in the World – Witwatersrand Gold Fields. The gold fields of the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa are, by a landslide, the largest single gold producing district in the world. Special map accompanying Richmond's South African All Mining Year Book illustrating the location of Mines, Quarries and Works. It is estimated the 40% of all of the gold ever mined has come out of the Basin. Andrew Watson is the principal of Anterrra Consulting, which provides strategic advice, project generation, investor relations services and digital data management services to clients in Mining, Junior Exploration and Oil and Gas. The Witwatersrand Basin is approximatly 350 km long and 200 km wide. The scarp, primarily formed of hard, erosion resistant quartzite sedimentary rocks, as well as banded iron-stones and marine lava deposits interspersed with relatively softer rocks, nestles a large number of waterfalls. Witwatersrand, ridge of gold-bearing rock mostly in Gauteng province, South Africa. Col. ill. and maps of "Pretoria, 1:21,400" and "Johannesburg, 1:21,400" on verso. These gold fields dominated production throughout the twentieth century, but production peaked at … Simplified geologic map of the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa. entworfen und gezeichnet von C. F. Weiland. It has produced some 2 billion ounces over a century of mining and at an average grade of 15 g/t Au with a current head grade of 6-10 g/t Au and they still have estimated reserves of some 1,161 billion ounces (36,000 tonnes). The evidence for this is the presence of extremely rich gold grades associated with carbonaceous horizons, the varying richness of the conglomerate beds and the complex suite of elements co-deposited with the gold. The Company plans to transition to a mid-tier gold producer from its flagship project in the Central Rand Goldfield of South Africa, the Witwatersrand … The Libanon Gold Mine is in Gauteng, South Africa. 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