Gold found in South Africa mine's waste

In a single gold mine in South Africa, an expected $2.2 billion worth of gold can still be extracted from just one dump site's waste material.

Using water cannons and chemical treatements, a single mine can hope to extract about 3 grams in every tonne. It may not sound like much but if there is 140 million tonnes of waste lying around - the numbers start adding up.

High prices means all the effort that goes into sourcing the precious metal may well be worth it.

Al Jazeera's Tania Page reports from Johannesburg.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• gold

[drjacklint]

@jradetzky In the future, retards will make fantastical bullshit statements based on nothing.

[supercell42]

how much mercury and other toxins are they putting into our environment to extract the gold??

poisoning the environment for profit = blind insanity

[kh101100]

Gold in africa sitting infront of u? Especially in africa? They wasted it.. thats why they poor

[hexzerg2]

@jradetzky There are unlimited resources because of the market. The price signals that the market sends make it impossible to run out of resources.

[govindas999]

Better than gold: causelessmercy dt com

[IcarusDrowning88]

@SapphireDiamond19 Actually, many African governments prefer dealing with China because they don't interfere with local politics, strike fair agreements, and keep their commitments. Many infrastructure projects in African countries are funded and executed by the Chinese. It is rather Western nations who have a very sordid history and current approach of dealing unfairly with African nations. Besides, if the Africans are incapable of the work or industry, they could use help.

[nepalihercules]

@SapphireDiamond19 it's only the white that steal. did you not see that guy?? he's white.

[capslockbandit]

@jradetzky Stick with the incredibly unlikely hypothetical scenarios and I will stay with reality. I have used gold to develop a nearly self sufficient property for my family. My gold bought me farmland and water, ie safety for my family.You may find some weird satisfaction in letting me die in a bizarre hypothetical fantasy, but when things do get really bad I will have the capacity to help many people, made possible because of the abundance in my life. Gold bugs tend to be prepared!

[jradetzky]

@capslockbandit if we ever end up stranded together in a hot desert and I happen to have the only bottle of water and you only have one bar of gold, guess who'll dehydrate to death

[capslockbandit]

@jradetzky In the case of water it is practically unlimited for our purposes, and all of it stays in the system. I never said resources were unlimited, but eventually supply and demand leads to price increases that make it economic to recycle, for example nearly all gold, and many rare earths are recycled because of their value. I am 24 and semi retired because of my research and subsequent investment in production of these valuable commodities, so I do know a lot about this stuff. GL

[jradetzky]

@capslockbandit whoa! ur either nuts or an economist for thinking that there are unlimited resources. It's all a matter of perspective. Gold is only "valuable" because some crazy Western folk say so, but it has no intrinsic value whatsoever--in the pre-colonial Americas gold was so abundant that people traded it for trinkets with greedy European explorers. If tomorrow someone says that fossilized dog shit is the rarest material on earth you will sure go for it, won't ya?

[capslockbandit]

@juliaisafilmbuff123 There is never been more ($) incentive than now to mine for gold, yet why isnt mine production up to match? Because we mined most of the high grade easy deposits on the planet. If the fed prints a dollar its steals the value from elsewhere, if someone mines gold they have to invest, develop and create jobs and economic utility. Gold is honest because its supply increases roughly match population growth, instead of its value dictated by a banking cartel.