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The Mineral Revolution in South Africa [pt.2] - Coggle Diagram
The Mineral Revolution in South Africa [pt.2]
Why is gold valuable
Symbol of power-used in crowns for kings and queens
Form of wealth and does not decay
First coins ever=Gold
Gold=world currency bcs of value, quality and rarity.
Paper money was more convienent
Government had to own amt of gold to print the amt of notes represented
Gold is also valuable because of scarcity
Gold is sometimes found in river beds but most of it is found deep underground set in rock.
Countries that do not have gold import it from SA
Gold is valuable bcs it requires a lot machinery/efforts(it is hard to mine)
The discovery and mining of deep-level gold on the Witwatersrand
Gold found as early 1870s,Pilgrim's Rest, Mpumalanga.
1886 Witwatersrand=large amnt of gold found
People from all over Southern Africa and overseas came to the Rand to seek their fortunes or to find work on the gold mines
How gold is mined
-Gold on the Rand was deep into the earth, therefore it ha to be mined which is expensive
-Engines, drills, large lifts and machines were needed
Two shafts sunk by machines go deep underground.
Passengers/Stopes are excavated ,leading off from the shaft and the stopes cut across thin strips of gold/reefs that run deeper underground
3.Miners drill holes in rock around ore before blasting a small tunnel into the rock.
4.Once the tunnel is cleared of blasted rock, men lash the pieces of ore and rock and then tram them
Ore and rock are taken up to the surface in skips (buckets)
Ore is taken to another part of the mine works in trucks. There, gold is separated from crushed ore by using machines and chemicals.
Gold is still left in the ore...so the gold is melted and the hot, liquid gold runs into trays
21 grams of gold=miners blast and chop out two tons of ore
Conditions Underground
Miners worked shifts=10-12 hrs
They dug passages/tunnels and hammered holes in hard rock to place dynamite. Skilled miners then actually placed the dynamite in to blast open the rock. (the miners left when it blasted) . They then went back and collected the rock to be crushed.
Conditions= dark and dangerous
Not given special clothing/protective helmets.
Dark dusty, hot, no lunch break (couldn't get fresh air). Miners got killed during blasting+rockfalls.
Some miners became sick and unhealthy because of breathing in dust for long hours underground
The Randlords and the formation of the chamber of mines
Large companies=deep level mining. Firstly money came from ppl and companies tht made their money on Kimberly diamond mines. But more money was needed so they formed Gold mining companies
Companies raised money by selling shares. Soon mines became successful and shares were worth more money, and when they sold them they would make a profit
Soon gold mining companies were controlled by few big companies (eg. Rand Mines and Consolidated Gold Fields)
Richest mine owners made sure they owned most of the shares in companies.= Randlords
eg.Most of them Cecil John Rhodes eg. made money from diamond mining
Randlords made huge profits from gold mining They built big houses in Johannesburg.//lived a wealthy lifestyle
1887 big mining companies joined to form a union = Chamber of Mines. Gave them great power... they could make decisions abt how the mines worked
They could make sure they became powerful and rich. eg. they could all agree to pay same wages and treat workers the same. This stopped competition btwn them. They no longer had to offer higher wages or better working conditions to get workers bcs it was the same on all mines