The Witwatersrand region in South Africa is home to an estimated $24 billion worth of gold, which can now be extracted using more efficient methods. This area was the site of a major gold rush in the late 19th century, leading to the birth of the city of Johannesburg. It is believed that 40% of the world’s gold has been extracted from this region, leaving behind huge hills of tailings.
Recent research by Dr. Steve Chingwaru, a metallurgist from Zimbabwe, has shown that these tailings could contain up to 460 tons of “invisible gold”. This invisible gold is mixed inside other minerals and cannot be seen with the naked eye. Chingwaru’s project aims to reprocess these tailings in a more efficient way to extract this gold and valuable by-products like copper, cobalt, and nickel.
Current methods of mining tailings are not only inefficient but also harmful to the environment. When sulphides oxidize, sulfuric acid is created and can mix with groundwater, spreading toxic elements. Chingwaru’s method not only recovers gold but also removes heavy metal contamination and acidic water while also producing valuable by-products.
The challenge now lies in determining whether this new method is cost-effective enough to mine the gold and make a profit. According to Chingwaru, industry experts in South Africa believe that his method can be scaled up to become economically viable. With an estimated $24 billion worth of gold waiting to be extracted, it seems that this research holds great potential for the future of mining in South Africa.
