Gold mining enquiry prompts sector spending
There was further bad news for the gold mining industry in South Africa on Friday (April 2nd), with the announcement that more money must be invested in order to avoid fatalities in deep gold mines, according to Mining Weekly.
However, the move to spend more on the safety of the mines could reduce the money available for mining operations in the country, leading to a lower gold output. This may be good news for investors in gold as a reduced world supply drives prices up.
The Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) said that fatalities in gold mining were higher in 2006 and 2007 than in previous years, due to miners having to work in deeper, more unstable mines since less gold is now available closer to the surface.
"In order to address the rockburst problem, which occurs almost exclusively in gold mines, the MHSC will spend a further R20-million [£1.2 million] in the next three years to address deep-level gold-mining health and safety issues," said MHSC acting general manager Mthokozisi Zondi, according to Mining Weekly.
South Africa was overtaken by China in January as top world gold producer.
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