South African gold mines are technological marvels, reaching down to tremendous depths, with AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine more than 4km deep. But this brings a plethora of safety challenges including seismicity problems, heat and dust. While there is no question that the mining industry needs a firm hand when it comes to regulating safety, safety stoppages have begun to cost the industry billions. The Chamber of Mines has estimated that between 2012 and 2015, the industry lost revenue of R13.6bn due to stoppages, a number that does not include the time it takes to ramp mines back to steady state production or the cost of salaries and overheads paid while the mine is idled. AngloGold noted in this week’s quarterly production numbers that it had so far lost 82,800oz of gold to safety stoppages. Royal Bafokeng Platinum took the unusually outspoken stance of saying the "sharp increase in the frequency and severity" of safety stoppage orders that did not appear to be aligned with tac...
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