TauTona

The mine is one of the three Western Deep Levels mines of the West Wits gold field west of Johannesburg. The mine is near the town of Carletonville. TauTona neighbours the Mponeng and Savuka mines, and TauTona and Savuka share processing facilities. All three are owned by AngloGold Ashanti. The mine was originally built by the Anglo American Corporation with its 2km deep main shaft being sunk in 1957. The name TauTona means "great lion" in the local Sotho language. The mine began operation in 1962 it is one of the more efficient South African mines and remains in continuous operation even during periods when the price of gold is low. Since its construction two secondary shafts have been added bringing the mine to its current depth. The mine today has some 800 kilometers of tunnels and employs some 5600 miners. The mine is a dangerous place to work and an average of five miners die in accidents each year.

Work is currently underway to extend the mine deeper to some 3.9km underground. This will make it the deepest mine in the world, surpassing the 3,585m deep East Rand Mine by a considerable margin. This new shaft is set to be completed by 2009 and will extend the mines life to 2015.

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