With the gold price as high as it is, the gold in Johannesburg’s old mine dumps should be recovered and the valuable land beneath those dumps freed up for redevelopment. The know-how of turning surface projects to positive account is at a high point and land rehabilitation is part of the licence to operate.
It is good news that the Mogale gold tailings project on the West Rand, near Krugersdorp and Kagiso, is going ahead at high speed. The developer’s definitive feasibility study points to payback being fast, illegal mining being brought to a halt, the jobs created extending across many years, and large tracts of rehabilitated land being given exciting new potential. The dumps between Joburg and the townships have been allowed to form something of a Berlin Wall for far too long now.
Remining them will not only help to strengthen South Africa’s struggling currency, through the production, refining and export of additional volumes of gold, but will also put an end to excessive taxi travel. Redevelopment of the rehabilitated land on the doorstep of the city would allow for a good proportion of township folk to be able to spend a lot more time with their families rather than having to endure hours on the road every working day.