Not only does one African city have the largest gold mine by reserves, but it also earned the nickname “city of gold” for its riches in natural resources. After gold first being discovered in the Witwatersrand basin in 1886, miners quickly established the city of Johannesburg, which explains why South Africa’s commercial capital is the world’s largest city built far from a water source.
This massive gold deposit turned Johannesburg into a hub for mining and set the stage for South Africa to become the world’s largest gold producer by the 1970s. The basin has since produced more than 40,000 tonnes of gold, which represents around 22 percent of all the gold accounted for above the surface. A vast labyrinth of mine tunnels stretches over 87 miles beneath the streets, and it connects some of the most significant resources on the planet.
Gold Fields’ South Deep mine is thought to be the largest goldmine in the world by reserves, and it is also the seventh deepest mine in the world, stretching nearly three kilometers below the surface in the heart of the Witwatersrand Basin.
Known as the Western Areas Gold Mine until 2000, the first gold was mined in 1961, and South Deep’s mine life is expected to be extended up to 2092.
The underground mine, which lies 28 miles south-west of Johannesburg, is operated through two shaft systems, known as the south shaft complex and the twin shaft complex.
However, from a peak in the 1970s, gold production fell by 85 percent between 1980 and 2018 in the country, and now around 6,000 abandoned mines dot the landscape of South Africa.
Many are across the so-called “Golden Arc,” which stretches from Johannesburg through the Free State and North West provinces.
However millions of ounces of gold are expected to remain underground, and it has fostered a rise in illegal mining, often with awful conditions.
According to a 2015 report by the South African Human Rights Commission, there are as many as 30,000 “zama zamas”, the local name for informal miners, operating across South Africa, most of them concentrated in and around Johannesburg.
There has also been conflict between the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and gold producers in the area over wages and conditions.
In 2024 South Africa blockaded access to the Buffelsfontein gold mine west of Johannesburg, cutting off food and water in an attempt to force hundreds of miners to the surface.
