The Republic of South Africa is a metal producer of the first rank. Gold is the most important of the metals and up to the end of 1971, U.S.$ 32 billion had been realized from its sale. This figure was equivalent to 80% of the total value of all metals sold. The gold province is located on the Kaapvaal craton which is composed of Precambrian sedimentary-volcanic and granite-greenstone assemblages ranging in age from 1,750 to 3,500 million years. This craton forms the southern part of the Southern African Shield. No significant gold mineralization has yet been found beyond the boundaries of this shield. On the Kaapvaal craton, five Proterozoic sedimentary-volcanic basins lie on an Archean basement.  <...>

Fruta del Norte is a completely concealed and extraordinarily well preserved epithermal gold-silver deposit located in the remote Cordillera del Cóndor mountain ranges of southeastern Ecuador. Currently defined resources in a single, steep, relatively small body, displaying exceptional grade continuity, contain 9.81 million ounces (Moz) of gold and 15.0 Moz of silver, with an indicated resource grade of 9.59 g/t Au and 12.9 g/t Ag. The deposit was discovered in early 2006 during a greenfields program conducted by Aurelian Resources, a Canadian junior explorer. Discovery resulted from systematic drill testing of a conceptual geologic model, which predicted that auriferous veins would be present in andesitic volcanic rocks inferred to underlie a steep silicified rib cutting a fluvial conglomerate sequence.

The Cadia Ridgeway deposit is one of a group of porphyry-style deposits discovered since 1992 by Newcrest geologists at Cadia 20 kms south of Orange in the central tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. The Ridgeway deposit lies 500m below the surface, 3 kms north-west of the Cadia Hill open cut mine, and was discovered in November 1996. It is notably rich in Au with an inferred and indicated resource of 44 Mt at 2.6 g/t Au and 0.82% Cu, and is under development as an underground mining operation. <...>

Территория Эквадора геологически изучена слабо. Месторождение Портовело-Зарума, расположенное в юго-западной части Эквадора, имеет особенно важное промышленное значение для страны. Начиная с 1904 года на месторождении было добыто 120 т золота и 250 т серебра, а с 1904 года по 1950 год, в период работа американской компании "South american development company" (SACCO), месторождение являлось одним из ведущих золоторудных объектов во всей Южной Америке.

In early August 2012, following failed wage negotiations and civil unrest, about three thousand striking platinum miners employed by Lonmin plc gathered on a hill close to the town of Marikana in the North West province of South Africa. Nine out of ten Lonmin miners were migrants, mainly from the Eastern Cape, who lived next to the mine in squalid shacks and informal settlements.1 During a confrontation on 16 August, police opened fre, wounding 78 miners and killing 34 others. Many of those killed and injured were shot in the back.

Золоторудные месторождения в углеродистых вулканогенно-карбонатио-терригенных формациях составляют значительную долю мировых запасов золота. Крупные объекты известны в США, Австралии, России, Китае, Казахстане и других регионах мира. Общим для всех месторождений является вкрапленно-прожилковый характер оруденсния во флишоидных и турбидитовых толщах разного возраста, присутствие золотоносных минералов - арсенопирита и пирита, структурно-тектонический контроль оруденения, наличие даек средне-основного состава, проявление посторогенных гранит-гранодиоритовых интрузий. К этому типу минерализации наиболее близка важная промышленная фуппа золотых месторождений карлин-типа [Padtke et al., 1985; Emsbo et al., 1999; 2003; llchik. Barton, 1997; Нарсеев, 2002; Дьячков и др., 2011; Large et al., 2011; Цой и др., 2011; Ковалев и др., 2012; Наумов и др. 2014]. Геодинамические обстановки отвечают пассивным континентальным окра инам, зонам скольжения литосферных плит, внутриконтинентальным рифтам крупным изверженным провинциям (LlPs) [Сазонов, 1998; Ханчук, Иванов, 1999 Борисенко и др., 2006; Ермолов, 2013; Goldfarb et al., Горячев и др., 2014].  <...>

Золото-кварцевые месторождения широко распространены и составляют значительную долю мировых запасов золота. Крупные объекты этого типа известны в США, Австралии, Канаде, России, Китае, Казахстане и других регионах мира. Согласно современной классификации они относятся к орогенным месторождениям, однако мнение об источниках вещества и физико-химических условиях образования являются предметом дискуссий.

На территории Красноярского края заключено 16 % российских запасов золота (более 2 300 т). По добыче благородного металла край лидирует с показателем ~110 т за 2019 г. Основная часть запасов и ресурсов коренного золота сосредоточена в металлогенических зонах Енисейского кряжа (О состоянии и использовании…, 2020). Олимпиадинское месторождение является крупнейшим золоторудным объектом Енисейского кряжа и входит в число уникальных месторождений России и мира.

From ancient times to the present day, gold has been valued by humans. Egypt was the principal gold-producing country in ancient times. Coptos, the present Quft on the eastern side of the River Nile, was the chief town of the Nomos of Harawi and was once politically important. In the eleventh dynasty (2133e1991 BC) it was overshadowed by Thebes, 50 km to the south, which became the capital of the Middle Kingdom (2133 BC) of ancient Egypt, the present-day Luxor (Figure 1.1).

With the removal of the majority of the shallow mineral reserves there has been an increase in the mining depths in the South African mining industry. This has, in turn, changed the industry’s and stakeholders’ perceptions of risk associated with mining-induced instability. In recent years the increased mining depth, particularly in open pits, has led to an increase in pit slope failures, which has highlighted the need for appropriate and effective pit slope management programmes. Such a programme comprises many facets, including mine hazard plans, regular slope inspections, cleaning of interim and final pit faces, blasting practices, histories of failures, pit depressurization, stormwater control and evacuation procedures. However, it is arguably in the field of slope monitoring that the most significant strides have been made in terms of new technologies and best practice in open pit mining geotechnics, with the introduction of technologies such as laser scanners and slope stability radar. This paper seeks to illustrate the operational benefits associated with the implementation of new technologies into open pit mining, using AngloGold Ashanti’s Geita Gold Mine in Tanzania as an example. <...>