SA Gold Miners Shift to Shallow Projects as Prices Surge
South African gold miners are shifting to shallow projects and waste recovery as prices reach record highs. Annual output is expected to stay at 90 metric tons.
Record gold prices are compelling the mining sector in South Africa to pivot toward innovative recovery methods that avoid the prohibitive costs of traditional deep-shaft operations. Despite the surge in global prices, industry experts suggest that a significant production boom remains unlikely in the near term, as the nation struggles to reclaim its historical status as the world's leading gold producer.
The decline of the sector is starkly illustrated by statistics showing that exploration spending plummeted from $900 million in 2006 to just $43 million in 2025. Annual production has also fallen from a 1970 peak of 1,000 metric tons to approximately 90 metric tons, driven by depleting reserves, labor challenges, and the extreme geological demands of the world's deepest mines.
