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Article: Witwatersrand historic borehole database. (database of the gold exploration activities in South Africa's Witwatersrand Basin)
- Article from:
- Mining Magazine
- Article date:
- August 1, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Mining Journal Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Witwatersrand Historic Borehole Database
It is estimated that all of the world's gold mining activity since ancient times has yielded some 115,000 t of the metal. Of this total, nearly 40% has been extracted from the banket reefs of South Africa's Witwatersrand ("Wits") Basin. The Wits basin is also calculated to contain a similar percentage of the world's undeveloped reserves of mineable gold: in exploration terms, this mineral province is thus mature but by no means exhausted. The gold-bearing units extend over an area of approximately 40,000 [km.sup.2], most of which is buried under younger sedimentary and volcanic formations which commonly attain combined ...