The Mining Industry in South Africa

1. The Mining Industry in South Africa Yasmin Amini Jonathan Troupes Todd Schultz Mathew Thompson

2. How did it develop? • Mining is one of South Africa’s main driving forces for the development and success of the country • Diamond and gold are important reasons for the growth of South America • Thousands of people rushed to the area Kimberly in an attempt gain profit from the discovery of diamonds north of Cape Town. • Gold was discovered in an Area called Witwatersrand. This was the cause of the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in 1886. like diamonds the gold rush caused thousands to flock the region. As a result this helped boost the economic value of South Africa

3. The 1940’s • In the 1940’s squatter movements in urban areas brought mass politics back into urban centers • Until 1940, South Africa’s racial policies were pretty close to the rest of the world • By the 50’s the country was against the world opinion on human rights • The idea of the apartheid brought an even more authoritarian approach • In 1946, The Mineworker’s Strike was a turning point in the emergence of policies of mass mobilization

4. Present Day • Mining in South Africa can reach new depths because the temperature doesn’t change as quickly with depths as it does in other regions. • South Africa’s main mining industries are Gold, Platinum, and Diamonds.

5. Methods • For gold mining, the main methods used are sluicing, panning, and hard rock mining. • For platinum mining, chunks of platinum rich ore are mined, and then further refined until pure platinum is obtained. • Platinum ore takes around 6 months to refine, and it takes a huge amount of ore to yield a small amount of aluminum.

6. Effects on Different Groups • Shadow Class System • In South African mines the native Africans are the ones doing the actual mining, while the white minority controls the vast majority of the high ranking executive positions.

7. Effects on Different Groups • What Happens When the Mine Moves • Mines of course are a temporary endeavor, they are bound to at one point run dry. When this happens what becomes of he workers? While the rich executives simply move to the next profitable ore vein, while the lower class workers who do the actual mining are left stranded without work or home.

8. Sources • http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://libcom.org/files/south-africa-miners.JPG • http://www.info.gov.za/aboutsa/history.htm • www.southafrica.info/business/economy/sectors/mining.htm • http://www.infomine.com/countries/southafrica.asp