SA mine to dig deeper than ever before

SENIOR PROJECT Manager Etienne Hamman, TauTona mine, has plans to dig deep. Aiming at going down to a depth of 3,902 m and extend mine life to 2019 and beyond. The South African mine belongs to AngloGold Ashanti.

According to general manager, Frank Russo-Bello by July 15, 2008, they should be able to celebrate the unveiling of a new Guinness Book of Records plaque at a depth of 3,778 m below datum. That plaque will bear the words, �The deepest man-made hole in the world.� Currently, the Savuka mine, also belonging to AngloGold, descends 3,777.4 m below datum. TauTona is already down to 3,600 metres, and by March 2007 the mine will be 3,902 m below datum, a depth to which nobody has ever before descended and where rock temperatures will increase from the current 55 �C to 59 �C.

At present, 5,500 people employed at TauTona travel nearly 4 km vertically down the three-tier system. Those working in the new deep-level area will have to travel yet another 4 km to the newly established declines. The management will introduce a transport system that conjures up images of a Venetian holiday. Workers will �sail� down to the depths in a gondola, which will have its own on-board driver.