China’s search for raw materials

A 10,000-meter deep hole is to be drilled. This will take more than 400 days and is intended for scientific exploration. Drilling will take place in China’s largest desert, the Taklamakan Desert, the second largest sand desert in the world. More than ten continental layers will be penetrated, including rock layers dating back 145 million years. The well is being drilled by the country’s largest oil producer. Exploring the depths of the earth is linked to China’s search for resources.

If the search for raw materials goes deeper, the challenges for materials and the miners increase, and of course the costs also rise. At a depth of 4,000 meters, the temperature of the rock is around 60 degrees Celsius, while the air temperature is 55 degrees Celsius and is cooled in a complex process. The deepest active mine in the world is the Mponeng mine near Johannesburg. Ore is mined at a depth of between 3,160 and 3,740 meters, some 2,000 meters below sea level. Production began in 1986, and despite the extreme depth, mining is worthwhile because the gold content is often more than nine grams per ton of rock. Further among the deepest gold mines are the Savuka mine (almost 4,000 meters deep, no longer in operation) and the Tautona mine, also in South Africa. The fourth deepest mine is also in South Africa, at 3,400 meters. Gold mining at shallow depths is, of course, far less costly and dangerous. The profitability of a gold mine depends on other factors as well. Two companies that do not have to drill as deep as the South Africans and also have promising and expandable project portfolios can serve as examples.

In Zimbabwe, neighboring South Africa, Caledonia Mining – https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/caledonia-mining-corporation-plc/ – has been producing successfully at its Blanket mine for many years, paying attractive returns.

Another successful gold producer is OceanaGold – https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/oceanagold-corp/ -, with mines in the U.S., New Zealand and the Philippines.

Current corporate information and press releases from OceanaGold (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/companies/oceanagold-corp/ -) and from Caledonia Mining (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/companies/caledonia-mining-corp/ -).

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