This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(February 2018)
The TauTona Mine or Western Deep No.3 Shaft,[1] was a gold mine in South Africa. At approximately 3.9 kilometers (2.4 mi) deep, it was home to the world's second deepest mining operation, rivalled only by the Mponeng Gold Mine, but was closed in 2018.[2]
The mine was one of the three Western Deep Levels mines of the West Wits gold field west of Johannesburg. The mine is near the town of Carletonville. TauTona neighbours the Mponeng and Savuka mines and they share processing abilities. All three were owned by AngloGold Ashanti until Savuka was closed in 2017, TauTona in 2018 and Mponeng was purchased by Harmony Gold in 2020.[3][4]
The mine was built by the Anglo American Corporation and its 2 km (1.2 mi) deep main shaft was sunk in 1957. The name TauTona means "great lion" in the Setswana language. The mine began operation in 1962. It was one of the most efficient mines in South Africa and remained in continuous operation even during periods when the price of gold was low. Two secondary shafts were added to bring the mine to its current depth. The mine had some 800 km (500 mi) of tunnels and employs around 5,600 miners. The mine was a dangerous place to work, with an average of five miners dying in accidents each year. The mine is so deep that temperatures in the mine can rise to life-threatening levels. Air-conditioning equipment was used to cool the mine from 55 °C (131 °F) down to a more tolerable 28 °C (82 °F). The rock face temperature reaches 60 °C (140 °F).
By 2008, the mine reached 3.9 km (2.4 mi) underground. This made it the deepest mine in the world (at that time), surpassing the 3.5 km (2.2 mi) deep East Rand Mine by a considerable margin. This new shaft extended the depth from its previous 3.5 km (2.2 mi), with the intent of extending the mine's life to 2015.[5]
The lift cage that transported the workers from the surface to the bottom traveled at 16 metres per second (36 mph / 58 km/h) so together with traveling on horizontal trolleys the journey to the rock face could take up to 1 hour from the surface level.[6] The mine has been featured on the MegaStructures television program produced by the National Geographic Channel.
In the 2008 financial year, there were seven fatal accidents at AngloGold Ashanti's West Wits operations in which 14 miners died, four of those at the TauTona mine.[7]
Productionedit
Production figures of the TauTona Mine were the following:
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This article needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information February 2018 The TauTona Mine or Western Deep No 3 Shaft 1 was a gold mine in South Africa At approximately 3 9 kilometers 2 4 mi deep it was home to the world s second deepest mining operation rivalled only by the Mponeng Gold Mine but was closed in 2018 2 TauTonaLogo of the TauTona MineLocationTauTona Gold MineLocation in South AfricaLocationCarletonvilleProvinceGautengCountrySouth AfricaCoordinates26 24 58 S 027 25 39 E 26 41611 S 27 42750 E 26 41611 27 42750ProductionProduction209 000 2015 HistoryOpened1962Closed2018OwnerCompanyAngloGold AshantiWebsiteAngloGold Ashanti websiteThe mine was one of the three Western Deep Levels mines of the West Wits gold field west of Johannesburg The mine is near the town of Carletonville TauTona neighbours the Mponeng and Savuka mines and they share processing abilities All three were owned by AngloGold Ashanti until Savuka was closed in 2017 TauTona in 2018 and Mponeng was purchased by Harmony Gold in 2020 3 4 The mine was built by the Anglo American Corporation and its 2 km 1 2 mi deep main shaft was sunk in 1957 The name TauTona means great lion in the Setswana language The mine began operation in 1962 It was one of the most efficient mines in South Africa and remained in continuous operation even during periods when the price of gold was low Two secondary shafts were added to bring the mine to its current depth The mine had some 800 km 500 mi of tunnels and employs around 5 600 miners The mine was a dangerous place to work with an average of five miners dying in accidents each year The mine is so deep that temperatures in the mine can rise to life threatening levels Air conditioning equipment was used to cool the mine from 55 C 131 F down to a more tolerable 28 C 82 F The rock face temperature reaches 60 C 140 F By 2008 the mine reached 3 9 km 2 4 mi underground This made it the deepest mine in the world at that time surpassing the 3 5 km 2 2 mi deep East Rand Mine by a considerable margin This new shaft extended the depth from its previous 3 5 km 2 2 mi with the intent of extending the mine s life to 2015 5 The lift cage that transported the workers from the surface to the bottom traveled at 16 metres per second 36 mph 58 km h so together with traveling on horizontal trolleys the journey to the rock face could take up to 1 hour from the surface level 6 The mine has been featured on the MegaStructures television program produced by the National Geographic Channel In the 2008 financial year there were seven fatal accidents at AngloGold Ashanti s West Wits operations in which 14 miners died four of those at the TauTona mine 7 Production editProduction figures of the TauTona Mine were the following Year Production Grade Cost per ounce2003 8 646 000 ounces 12 09 g t US 1712004 8 568 000 ounces 10 88 g t US 2452005 8 502 000 ounces 9 62 g t US 2562006 9 474 000 ounces 10 18 g t US 2692007 10 409 000 ounces 9 67 g t US 3172008 10 314 000 ounces 8 66 g t US 3742009 10 218 000 ounces 7 29 g t US 5592010 11 259 000 ounces 7 01 g t US 7002011 11 244 000 ounces 7 55 g t US 8182012 12 189 000 ounces 7 63 g t US 9242013 13 235 000 ounces 7 34 g t US 9202014 14 232 000 ounces 8 21 g t US 8822015 15 209 000 ounces 8 46 g t US 8832016 16 146 000 ounces 7 59 g t US 1 148References edit Comprehensive Mining Data Berry India 10 December 2021 Top 10 deepest mines in the world Mining Digital Magazine Savuka Gold Mine WikiMapia 2018 Seccombe Allan 12 February 2020 End of an era as AngloGold exits SA Business Day TauTona Anglo Gold Mining Technology SPG Media Group PLC 2009 01 01 Retrieved 2009 03 02 MINE Initiative COMSA Down The Mine Shaft Archived from the original on 2014 07 26 AngloGold Ashanti website South Africa country report 2008 PDF AngloGold Ashanti 2008 Archived from the original PDF on 2009 10 07 Retrieved 2009 09 22 a b c Annual Report 2005 Archived 2011 07 19 at the Wayback Machine AngloGold Ashanti website accessed 11 July 2010 Annual Report 2006 Archived 2011 07 07 at the Wayback Machine AngloGold Ashanti website accessed 11 July 2010 a b c Annual Report 2009 Archived 2011 09 12 at the Wayback Machine AngloGold Ashanti website accessed 9 May 2010 a b Annual Report 2011 AngloGold Ashanti website accessed 30 dec 12 Annual Report 2012 AngloGold Ashanti website accessed 11 nov 13 Annual Report 2013 Archived 2016 03 05 at the Wayback Machine AngloGold Ashanti website accessed 24 mar 16 Annual Report 2014 PDF Annual Report 2015 PDF AngloGold Ashanti integrated report 2016 PDF 22 March 2017 External links editTau Tona mine ZAF 00566 Secretariat of the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title TauTona Mine amp oldid 1183843450, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
