History of mining in south africa pdf

Although some mining had taken place in what is now south africa centuries before europeans arrived, 1 the. The first diamond discoveries in south africa were alluvial. The development of south africas mining industry, and how it laid the foundations for. Gold mining has, with a brief exception in the early 1980s, for three decades displayed a downward trend in production as the industry has. History of south african mining mining in south africa started when the first copper mine was established in the northern cape province in the early 1850s. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Mining in south africa continues to transform the country to this day. South africa began to slow down in the 1880s, as the new deposits being found tended to be pyritic ore and gold could not be extracted from this compound with any of the then available technologies. Gold mining in south africa typically involves methods such as panning, sluicing, dredging, hard rock mining, and byproduct mining. Diamond mining had such a massive impact on the entire southern african region that, as economic historian william worger described it, within a year of the opening of the mines, every black. The harsh reality of life under apartheid in south africa. Other articles where history of south africa is discussed. After a century of mining activity in south africa, the country remains one of the most geologically blessed regions in the world.

The decline of the african states 151 diamonds, gold, and imperialist intervention 18701902 151 diamonds and confederation 152 afrikaner and african politics in the cape 153 gold mining 154 the road to war 154 the south african war 18991902 155 reconstruction, union, and segregation 190229 156 milner and reconstruction 157. The flag of republic of south africa was adopted on 27 april 1994. Commercial coal mining commenced in the eastern cape near molteno in 1864. A perspective on the south african mining industry in the 21st century an independent report prepared for the chamber of mines of south africa by the graduate school of business of the university of cape town in association with genesis analytics. This is a short history of africa excluding egypt, ethiopia and dutch and british south africa, which are the subjects of separate histories. The development of south africas mining industry, and how it laid the foundations for apartheid although some mining had taken place in what is now south africa centuries before europeans arrived, 1 the modern mining industry emerged as the major shaper of south africas economy and race relations in the latter half of the 19 th century. South africa most certainly has its own unique story. It has 40 per cent or more of the worlds vanadium, gold and vermiculite reserves. Because the first farmers had knowledge of ironworking, their archaeological sites are characterized as iron age c. The demand for franchise rights for englishspeaking immigrants working on the new goldfields was the pretext britain used to go to war with the transvaal and orange free state in 1899. However, trends in productivity in the south african gold mining industry by p. The role of mining in the south african economy johannes fedderke and farah pirouz ersa, university of the witwatersrand abstract. M m ining in south africa has been a contentious issue since 15yearold erasmus stephanus jacobs discovered south africa s first diamond, the eureka, in hopetown in 1867. Investors in aggregate saw a decrease in dividends and market capitalisation after a cautiously optimistic view on a recovery last.

The first mine to be constructed in what is now south africa began operations in 1852, a copper project that would go on to form the cornerstone of the town of springbokfontein, today springbok, in the northern cape province. The link from the mining industrys early development to apartheid. The britannica guide to africa in association with britannica educational publishing, rosen educational services. A history of south african capitalism in national and global.

The near shore and shelf environments of the west coast hold rich reserves of minerals, particularly diamonds and in south africa there is an increasing emphasis on offshore diamond mining operations. In the early scholarship, the countrys industrialisation was linked to the mining. South africas mining industry south african market insights. A history of mining in south africa kindle edition by davenport, jade. First in yellow earth and below in hard rock called blue ground, later called kimberlite, after the mining town of kimberley.

Gold mining in south africa taung gold international limited. You can customise the powerpoint but the pdf is uneditable. It presaged the emergence of the modern south african. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading digging deep. For most effective gold mining in south africa, the method used is hard rock mining, since reserves are typically fully encased in rock deep underground. Pdf south africas gold production and reserves researchgate. Brief history of coal mining in south africa mining for schools. The gold discovered ran for miles and miles underground, an endless treasure of gold.

In addition, the department of mineral resources has developed a beneficiation strategy for the south african minerals. Offshore mining in south africa is also relatively productive. South africa has, and still is, relying heavily on mining activities to generate wealth that could be translated into economic development, infrastructure and employment. The year 1994 was a groundbreaking year for south africa when this country became a democracy with the ancs dr nelson mandela as the first democratically elected president. Bram janse for more than 100 years, africa has pro duced large commercial quantities of dia monds and important individual stones. Long before that event gold, copper, tin and iron were mined and. The history of southern africa edited by amy mckenna. Brief history of gold mining in south africa mining for schools. South africa has more than half of the worlds reserves of manganese, chromium and platinum group metals. A history of south african capitalism in national and global perspective worldwide as a racist pariah state. South africas mining industry has been one of the countrys most influential for over a hundred years. Formal mining in south africa is more than 100 years old. The discovery of the witwatersrand goldfields in 1886 was a turning point in south africas history.

We take a look at a few highlightslow lights of south africa s mining industry as published by statistics south africa exactly a week after delegates closed the 26 th investing in african mining indaba, stats sa released data on the performance of the mining industry in 2019. Important diamond deposits were discovered at kimberley in 1869. Ii the revisionist historiography of the process of industrialisation in south africa has gone through a number of stages. The history of coal mining in south africa is closely linked with the economic development of the country. The 1970s are best remembered for disco, bellbottoms, and the mesmerising lava lamp. The south african legislative frame viork for mine. The primary impacts arise from mining, particularly underground mining, largely because south african coal mines are. Socioeconomic attributes article pdf available in mediterranean journal of social sciences 414.

Haematite mining in swaziland can be traced back more than 40,000 years, iron smelting dates from 400 ad or earlier, and copper from 900 ad. The largest byproduct mines arethe journal of the south african institute of mining and metallurgy august1986 273. Grade 8 topic 2 the mineral revolution in south africa. A perspective on the south african mining industry in the. By 2010, however, china affirmed its status as the worlds largest gold producer with production of 324 tonnes of gold, followed by australia 222. The history of coal mining in south africa afri coal. By the time that gold was discovered, african kingdoms had lost their independence.

By 1869, diamonds were found far from any stream or river. The earliest official finds were made from approximately 1867 onward, in sands and gravels of the orange and vaal rivers in south africa. This paper examines thecontribution ofthreeaggregate mining sectors ofthesouth african economy to output and employment over the 197097period. From 1948 through the 1990s, a single word dominated life in south africa. Legislation at that time primarily focused on surface.

Another stamp south of the country on a map and a sample of the ore. The discovery of the witwatersrand goldfields in 1886 was a turning point in the history of south africa. Thendingofadeclining importanceofminingin output and. Mmining in south africa has been a contentious issue since 15yearold erasmus stephanus jacobs discovered south africas first diamond, the eureka, in hopetown.

A modern economic history of south africa 10 and g. Although south africa is the focus of subsequent sections of this report, this summary of precolonial mining methods has been extended to include archeological information gathered from sites elsewhere in southern africa. The south african mining industry has been in continuous decline for 2 decades. Pdf managing diversity in south africa harsheen patel. K chimuka 15 advances in mitigation and rehabilitation technology in major and abandoned mines in subsaharan africa. Tholana 6171 mining companies globally are currently facing severe economic and financial challenges. History of southern africa south african history online. As the evidence that follows will demonstrate, the role of mining in the. The development of the south african goldmining industry. Soweto itself is not a unitary place but an abbreviation for so uth we stern to wnships, a collection of over 25 townships bordering johannesburgs mining belt to the south, which range from middleclass enclaves to informal settlements. South african gold mining industry due to their level of market capitalization. It was also the decade that saw south african mining forge ahead in its influence on the economy and employment.

John stewart macarthur and the dingus brothers overcame this by suspending the crushed ore in a cyanide solution. They were directly ancestral to the bantuspeaking peoples who form the majority of south africa s population today. Far more than diamonds, it changed south africa from an agricultural society to become the largest gold producer in the world. Brief history of coal mining in south africa mining for. A perspective on the south african mining industry in the 21st. The gold mines of south africa have supplied an increas ingly large proportion of the worlds newly mined gold. Mining in south africa began with chance discovery of a diamond on the banks of the orange river in 1867. The mineral revolution in south africa started with the discovery of diamonds in kimberley in 1867, and intensified with the discovery of deeplevel gold on the witwatersrand in 1886. Angloboer south african war, brought about to some extent by the struggle for control of the goldfields, caused extreme disruptions in the mining industry, and at some stage, mines were closed 1901 the witwatersrand native labour association wenela set up by gold miners as. Currently, the industry is mostly run by white executives overseeing a huge, lowskilled and cheap black workforce but industry and government are trying to change that by increasing black ownership. The impact of gold mining on mercury pollution in the witwatersrand basin, south africa e. While apartheid in south africa was formalized in law in the late 1940s, the seeds for.

Mining in southern africa has a long precolonial history. South africas relationship to the rest of africa has been ambiguous. It may be the foundation upon which the economic and industrial revolution carried south africa onto the world stage, but the south african mining industry requires. Coal mining on the highveld and its implications for future. Goldinsouthafrica the southern african institute of. Discovery of gold in south africa physical attributes. The south african mining and biodiversity forum has been initiated by the chamber of mines of south africa and the world conservation union in south africa to improve biodiversity management practices in the mining industry. In 1867, the first diamond was discovered in hopetown, after which diamond mines were established in kimberley, also in the northern cape. Over the next few years, south africa yielded more diamonds than india had in over 2,000 years. But such a black and white reading belies the complex spatial history of townships in south africa. Its aim is both to record the state of the art on a specific topic and to. It kickstarted what historians call the mineral revolution, which made few european opportunists wealthy beyond measure, and saw hundreds of thousands of men leaving their homes to become fulltime mineworkers.

By 1899 the gold industry attracted investment worth. It replaced the flag that had been used since 1928, and was chosen to represent multiculturalism and ethnic diversity in the countrys new, postapartheid democratic society. Largescale and profitable mining started with the discovery of a diamond on the banks of the orange river in 1867 by erasmus jacobs and the subsequent discovery and exploitation of the kimberley pipes a few years later. In 1886, on the farm of langlaagte, the rapidly growing diamond industry was eclipsed by the discovery of gold. Mining in south africa was once the main driving force behind the history and development of africa s most advanced and richest economy. By the 1880s, the mines around kimberley produced around 95% of the world diamonds. This is the 11th edition of our annual publication highlighting trends in the south african mining industry, as represented by the top 26 mining companies by market capitalisation.

South africa is one of the top five coal exporting countries in the world. The rapid growth of the goldmining industry intensified processes started by the diamond boom. Mohatma ghandi coins the term satyagraha to describe south africa s nonviolent movement. Cape colony, colony of natal, transvaal colony, and orange river colony.

Apartheidafrikaans for apartnesskept the countrys majority black. The prehistory and history of south africa span nearly the entire known existence of human beings and their ancestorssome three million years or moreand include the wandering of small bands of hominins through the savanna, the inception of herding and farming as ways of. Lumby, industrial development prior to the second world war, in f. As in 2004 the coal and lignite industry of south africa provided over 50,000 jobs and generated nearly r40. Following the defeat of the boers in the angloboer or south african war 18991902, the union of south africa was created as a selfgoverning dominion of the british empire on 31 may 1910 in terms of the south africa act 1909, which amalgamated the four previously separate british colonies. Coal mining on the highveld and its implications for. Mmining in south africa has been a contentious issue since 15yearold erasmus stephanus jacobs discovered south africas first diamond, the eureka, in hopetown in 1867. The 1867 discovery of diamonds in the cape colony, south africa, radically modified not only the worlds supply of diamonds but also the conception of them. Prospectors established in 1886 the existence of a belt of goldbearing reefs 40 miles 60 km wide centred on presentday johannesburg. As news of the gold find spread throughout southern africa, various mining towns develped along the curve. The importance of the south african mining industry. The level of production was 1,3% lower in 2019 than 2018, which in.

Grade 8 history gold mining in south africa download both pdf and powerpoint. Some of the history of these countries, however, is naturally mentioned in this history of the rest of africa but is kept to the minimum needed to make the rest comprehensible. Apartheidafrikaans for apartnesskept the countrys majority black population under the thumb of a small. The discovery of diamonds in the late 1870s led to expansion of the mines in order to meet the growing demand for coal. According to death in south african mines, an undated study published in the early 1960s by hj simons, professor of native law and administration at the university of cape town uct, 36 000 men had been killed in accidents on south africa s gold mines since the beginning of the century. At the premier mine in pretoria, south africa, a 3,106carat diamond is discovered during a routine inspection by the mines superintendent. The rapid growth of the gold mining industry intensified processes started by the diamond boom. New groups of people arriving in south africa at that time had strong connections to east africa. In addition to global challenges, the south african. Mining in south africa was once the main driving force behind the history and development of africas most advanced and richest economy. Producer 1980 1985 witwatersrand mines 1750 6896 nonwitwatersrand mines 3759 3754 banks 258 753 dumpreprocessors 731. With its long and extensive history with mining, south africa has become a regional hub for mining skills and expertise. May 09, 2019 from 1948 through the 1990s, a single word dominated life in south africa. Brief history of gold mining in south africa mining for.

The bulk of the work was completed in february 2000. The then chamber of mines establishes the chamber of mines research organisation comro, which goes on to revolutionise safety in mining 1970s during oil crises, foreign oil companies vie for coal resources and establish new collieries to serve export markets. As modern south africa lacks a detailed account of early mining12, this will allow insights to be gained from the. Over 50% of all gold reserves are found in south africa, with the witwatersrand basin remaining the largest gold resource in the world in 1975, south africa was responsible for producing 40% of the gold ever mined.