SHOWCASE MINE OF THE WEEK - KUSASALETHU GOLD MINE!!

The Kusasalethu gold mine operated by Harmony is located 75km west of Johannesburg, on the West Wits Line near Carletonville, Gauteng, in South Africa. It is currently the fifth deepest mine in the world as it exploits the Ventersdorp Contact Reef (VCR) up to a depth of 3,276m below the surface. Kusasalethu was formerly known as Elandskraal gold mine. Elandskraal, which started operation in 1978, was comprised of two mines namely Elandsrand and Deelkraal. The Kusasalethu operation comprises of twin vertical and twin sub-vertical shaft systems. The mine employs conventional mining methods in a sequential grid layout. The extracted ore is processed at the nearby Kusasalethu plant. The Kusasalethu mine contained a proven reserve of 2.7Moz of gold grading 0.208oz/t and a probable reserve of 4.4Moz of gold grading 0.172oz/t as of December 2012. The mine produced 181,105oz of gold grading 0.137oz/t in 2012. A total of 5,237 employees and 979 contractors were engaged in the mining operation during the same year - Mining Technology.