Mponeng Gold Mine: Inside the World’s Deepest Mine
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
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get out of my room I'm playing minecraft
@@dougdimmadoodahdaay7887 wtf 😂 ok?
@Geographics Why not pin two more comments of your advertisement!
@Geography Mponeng is not situated in Johannesburg. It is just outside Carletonville. The episode of Big, Bigger, Biggest does not show Mponeng, it is TauTona mine. Do your research fist before posting.
Simon plz do Red Lake Gold Mines! Rob McEwen did things noone thought possible with the internet at the beginning! Plz check it out
Surprised they haven’t woken up the Balrog yet.
IT SHALL NOT PASSSS!
Right. "You shall not pass!!"
Lol
😂😂😂
Yeah he was woken up but then killed
A crazy thing to think about: If space mining ever takes off, one single asteroid could potentially yield more gold than humans have ever found on Earth to date.
And just as crazy, will be less dangerous as well. Much less risk of a cave in when gravity is close to non-existent.
The metal asteroids probably came from a breakup of a much larger body. When this body was formed it was probably much smaller than Earth, but large enough to form a spherical shape causing much of the rock to become molten, the heavier elements mostly migrated to the core. When at come time a collision scattered the body the still molten core had the heavier elements inside forming metal and stony metal asteroids (higher in heavier elements such as gold silver and platinum)we have today. The Earth has most of the heavier elements in the core and more deeply in the mantle and core. We depend on the vulcanism to bring these elements up to the surface and often hydrogeology to concentrate these elements into the veins and deposits we see on Earth today.
Don't look up.
@@resileaf9501 You mean, more dangerous cause there is no air that you can breethe. And no pressure. And the asteroid is moving with a insane speed and at any given time it can colide with something else.
You should view the whole picture and not only a single thing that improves.
@@uwetheiss970 If we have the technology to mine asteroids, we have the technology to handle those problems as well.
I am a south African and I work in the mining industry, as a geologist, so this video just made me extremely excited! :)
I cant believe this mine is still sustainable at 8ppm. They transport the ore up the elevator at 20 tonnes a lift? I guess labour is cheap there but still that is insane.
I really enjoy these vids...even though the og channels are a far cry from the newer channels. It's still a relaxing journey in the Whistlerverse, thanks Simon and Co.🍻💯
From Johannesburg South Africa . Thank you Simon You the only UA-camr that I actually enjoy watching. Much respect
I watched a BBC documentary on this about 2-3 years ago.
Loved that and I love this! 👍👍
The amount of ice ❄ for the air conditioning needed to keeping the mine cool was Truly gargantuan!
1:05 - Chapter 1 - The world deepest mine
4:40 - Chapter 2 - The geology of mponeng
7:25 - Mid roll ads
9:00 - Chapter 3 - Extremophiles living in the depths
11:10 - Chapter 4 - The world tallest elevator
14:15 - Chapter 5 - Accidents & safety
17:25 - Chapter 6 - Ghost miners
Thank you!!!
Cheers to you mate!
Thanks for doing a mine in South Africa. Appreciate it. Very proud of our mines.
A very good explanation regarding how a South African gold mine works. They are fascinating places to work. Nothing is as dark as when you switch your head lamp off in a unlit part of the mine. The temperature down there is something else too. I spent a three month vacation job after my geology working at the near by President Brand gold mine mapping the different gold bearing reefs. It was prior to the release of Mandela so security was far tighter and ghost miners and large criminal enterprises were not a feature of South African life as they have. unfortunately, now become.
Mzansi represent 🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦
Lekker my boy🇿🇦🍻
intlonipho
Also interesting note. The location of Vredefort is also the location of the biggest meteor impact crater in the world.
We call these Ghost Miners "Zamazamas". You can do a whole Casual Criminalist or Into the Shadows about them.
Doing the patio process on a small scale in the depths of the worlds deepest mine is absolutely insane.
The South African gold mines are long known as the deepest in the world but geographically speaking humans have mined closer to the center of the earth. The Kidd Creek mine in Timmins Canada is only 3.0km deep, vs the 4.0km of Mponeng but reaches 2,735 metres below sea level, vs Mponengs 2,440m, making it the deepest non-marine accessible point on earth.
Mine La Ronde (in Preissac, Quebec, Canada, relatively close to Timmins), aims to go even deeper than Kidd Creek (between 3.1 and 3.7km). But from what's shown online, they need to work on a better cooling solution if they wanna go that deep.
This episode could easily double as a Megaprojects episode.
It should be
I love learning about South Africa! 🤩More, please 🙏
Despite all the extraction, I have a feeling that humanity won't live long enough to extract all of the mine's gold, its that deep and abundant.
The deepest elevator (shaft) in the world is not at Mponeng but at nearby South Deep Mine (Goldfields). The main shaft has a single, vertical drop of 2,978m, over 600m deeper than Mponeng's shaft. Mponeng, however is the deeper mine of the two because it has a second shaft near the bottom of the first which takes the miners to over 4,000m depth.
At 2283 meters, is it even second? La Ronde (in Quebec, Canada) have a shaft of 2.2km, but they don't give the exact number. Might be close to each other.
I drive past the mine the mine to visit my sister. Saying the mine is in Johannesburg is a bit off. Great video!
19:00
Simon: A loaf of bread, for example, goes for up to twelve U.S. dollars.
Me: So normal price after 2022 inflation.
Pneumonia is also a serious concern. Going from 60°C to anywhere from 3°C to 30°C in a few minutes is very dangerous. Visitors have to change into sweat free clothes and there's a vast amount of drinks on hand to rehydrate.
Why? Sauna exists
When I was teaching Nuclear Battlefield for the USAF we had exactly the same directions for the forward observers directing nuclear munitions as you gave for the Miners detonating the Dynamite.
I've heard of this place before but I didn't know much about it.... Thanks 👍🏼
Great video. Should do a video on the Argonaut Mine, in Jackson, CA. It was, until its closure in 1942, the deepest gold mine in North America if not the world, at over a mile deep. Also the site of one of the worst mining disasters of the California Gold Rush, in 1922.
Fun Fact: The classic trapezoidal gold brick is supposed to be placed narrow side down, to make it easier to pick up again.
During Heritage Week 👏🏼🇿🇦
Wow! This was interesting. I’m from South Africa and wished they taught us this in school. Well done to you and the author.
I live in the centre of the Golden Triangle in Victoria, Australia. Not only was the largest gold nugget ever found in this area but the gold mine that is currently ranked as the highest grade at 28.13g/t is only about 20km away. The nearest historical gold mine is only a few hundred metres away.
This is such an Australian comment
I've heard that working at the mines in Oz is a good deal, what's your view bro? Worth immigration for?
The mining industry has a massive excess of high wages which I personally have thought would eventually become unsustainable but so far it just keeps being paid. There's a lot FIFO (fly in/fly out) workers at the mines in Western Australia and wages are typically well over double what is the norm. My (almost) brother in law is currently driving trucks at the mines and he is earning about 3 times what he was in Victoria. Awful conditions with no social life as there's nothing around for hundreds of kilometers but money is awesome.
This is somthing I've been thinking about doing, and what better info to ask from other than a straight normal dude who lives there. Thank you brother its a real help.
Fun fact: Since mankind first discovered gold we have only ever mined enough to fill roughly 3 Olympic sized swimming pools.
How bad would it suck to go to take a dip in your Olympic sized pool and find it filled with gold? "Honey- come take a look at this bullshit".
Ur an idiot lmao...... Fort Knox alone has worth Trillions of gold my guy...
That's a lie
Lie
I have been a member of this channel
My dad worked for the IUEC (International Union of Elevator Constructors) and for Otis Elevator in the U.S. for 35 years. Towards the end of dad's career with Otis, they made him a supervisor for deep shaft elevator construction in coal and salt mines all over the northeastern U.S. I never went along with dad when he was working in the mines, but he always said: "It's pretty hot down there".
it's cold underground until you get deep enough for the Earth's heat to make it life threateningly hot. Nasty gases down there to. I've been in some very deep caves. It sucks down there.
I think a video on the boroughs of New York City would be interesting. As in how they came to be and how the governments work in relation to the city as a whole. Like who runs each borough a Mayor? District Manager? Prime Minister? I’ve always been confused on how the borough system works.
Boroughs are counties. It’s the only place in the US that I’m aware of where counties are smaller then a city. In upstate you have town sized villages within large townships which is also different then surrounding states. I got a speeding ticket in a village, since court was only open 2 days a month I had to pay it because the timing didn’t allow an trial without my state suspending my license first.
History and how those governments interact would be interesting.
@@rydplrs71 I got ticketed by a State Trooper in a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere, twice.
About 14 years apart, but still.. same tiny little rural cluster of houses in the middle of nowhere outside a slightly less-tiny rural cluster of houses in the middle of nowhere.
Hopefully I'm done mailing checks to a PO Box in the middle of the forest now.
Who cares? What a boring and insular topic for a video.
@@mrtoothless Tell us how you really feel eh?
@@rydplrs71 Ah I got ya. Counties make more sense. Appreciate it.
Who knew Geduld Springs will ever feature on UA-cam... Rember all the shafts scattered across the east rand... Thanx Simon...
Although I’m sure the reality is pretty terrible, the concept of the ghost miners is pretty interesting, definitely would make an interesting teen-dystopia book
They are actually called Zam Zam here in South Africa
Not sure what it means
But many people will be confused if you say ghost miners
@@shiftorigi1346 Makes sense, but to be fair, ghost miners sounds pretty cool
I live about 30km away from this mine.
A friend of mine was an explosives engineer in that mine. When the ANC took over the government he decided it was time to get out of SA and head back to North Dakota. His friends who stayed often wit=sh they had followed.
Anyone with the money to is moving already
The ANC have ripped this country to shreds
Came here for gold, left with a better knowledge of extremophiles.
It's really crazy deep.
The energy it costs to chill the deepest levels is just another small city.
99% of all our precious metals and indeed most of the quantities of anything including/beyond Iron sunk to the bottom of our planet in beginning when it was still molten (IE the core).
Wow. That was a really interesting episode. Particularly the bit about the Ghost miners. What a terrible life, poor folks.
Once the commercially viability of that mine has passed it would actually be a great place for scientific experiments and geological study. That mine being the deepest by a sizable margin is a unique opportunity to study the earth at such a depth.
This is why recycling electronics will become the largest "mining" operation for future generations. Gold is a finite resource on this planet. Maybe that's why SpaceX is so focused on Mars. Hell, I'm surprised there aren't explorations to asteriods to see if they could be "prospected".
Im watching this video 2500 feet down in an underground mine.
Wow
Where?
Coming live from Pretoria, South Africa
Why is YT censoring sooooo much of the replies in these comments!?!
Great video especially for someone who hasnt worked in these gold mines. But they not referred as ghost miners but rather zama-zamas. Mostly is crime syndicates from neighboring countries such lesotho and Mozambique nationals. Its extremely risky for them as they do not follow mine health and safety acts
My great-grandmother was a genealogist, so a program like MyHeritage has my respect.
At Vaals Reef mine a lift fell down the shaft and killed everyone in it.
I want to recommend someone write about the comical historical story of the “micronation” of the Principality of Outer Baldonia an island of Nova Scotia that was founded in 1949. They declared war on the Soviets, which made them big mad. The Wikipedia page has been sadly edited, removing so much of the hilarious (but true) content. It would make a great video, right up Simon’s alley. Paul Gross made a film called “Buried on Sunday” inspired by the nonsense in 1992. I am sure one of the writers would find this both fun to research and write about, there is much to poke fun about it.
I thought the meteor impact left the gold behind. Interesting. Good work buddy.
They TASTE the DYNAMITE to see if it's ready?! WHAT.
They need to see if the sawdust that makes up most of it is dry
Eeeeeeeey a Video about my home country. You know the Leonardo Dicaprio meme where he points at the tv... this was me during the entire video.
There is no way the vredefort impact, which is the largest on land, and dwarfs the chixulub crater, isn't involved with the presence of so many valuable heavy elements here. Sudbury, a nearly as rich area in Canada is also right next to the second largest known impact crater on Earth! I can't pretend to understand all the processes involved, and I'm not implying there weren't other factors involved but coincidences with those odds can't be ignored.
Good video 👍
If the VCR is running out of gold maybe they should think about switching to DVD, they hold a lot more.
This comment deserves likes.
Immediately made me think of Reign of Fire
Rest In Peace to those that passed away.
Mad as a Mponeng ghost miner 😬😬😬
Proudly South African.🙏🙏
The mine may be very spacious indeed, but one thing it can never be is "massive". It is essentially a hole left after the extraction of the mass that once occupied that volume. What was extracted is "massive", and the hole left afterwards is almost massless in comparison.
.
In South Africa we call the ghost miners "Zama Zama" direct translation is "try try"
Rock and stone!
Videos that grab me grab me with crazy stats. In this case the elevator is 1761 taller than the highest point in my home state. That's insane
I love this channel and most of Simon's channels but you misspelled Geology on the graphic at 4:35.😀
Geolog
Is that the same Harmony gold company that’s holding MACROSS and battle tech hostage? Couldn’t be
That lawsuit was settled over a year ago. Also, no, not the same.
"stealing from the mine" is a funny way to make the mind innocent from what they're doing instead of just using the word trespassing
Please do more mines around the world
I'm just happy I was able to buy the Gold Krugerrands I have today, for $225/tr.oz!! When I'm dead, "someone" will be happy.
And I'm only 1 mile underground. I couldn't handle this one.
Yeeeeeesssss, I requested this video now for 2 years!
I use to work there!
How about a video on the Battle of Agincourt?
When they close it how many ghost miners will be sealed in?? Creepy just thinking about it 😳
Take a shot every time Simon says Gold
New conspiracy theory:
Oldest crater, next to the Cradle of Civilization?
Humans came from space
That's not a conspiracy theory, that's panspermia
You may wish to watch the historical documentary called Battlestar Galactica.
there's a couple of billion years difference tho
So we can effectively rule out intelligent extraterrestrial life then.
This has all happened before@@blazewardog
I came to see the world's deepest mine not talking!!
They took it all...in cold blood.
3:50 I thought Harmony Gold only distributed the anime "Robotech" in the US. TIL
So interesting!
Fill the mine with water when its finished as storage
Can you do a video on Liberia and it’s history
More reasons we need to start space minning better conditions just expensive to do if not impossible right now.
I just wanted to see the mine
I work on a gold mine - open pit and underground in Africa.
I’m 12:34 in and I have yet to really hear about anything related to the actual mining.
Nice to see mining. Now do Peter Munk. Gold mining’s godfather.
Basically the real Ducktales mine level
17:40 ...so ghosts are real!
The title is misleading. Inside?? I only saw stock images of generic stuff.
Careful Simon, we don’t want the History Channel making another gold mining show.
a 'Whistle-Out' to Whistler
If and when it does close...it might be stupid but they could turn it into The World's Deepest Hotel
When you said “extremephiles”, I thought you meant squatter cultists! 😂
Gold is about $50 USD / tonne - 8 g/t is 400 USD/tonne value for 100% recovery. That pays for a lot of shenanigans in terms of mining and processing. The miners in South Africa only get paid about $USD 500 / month so labour is quite cheap. Probably the biggest benefit of the gold is that it generates all foreign income for the country and that is worth a lot to them right now.
Greetings from the BIG SKY. Gold is difficult and easy to find.
I'll stick to panning.
Should check out homestake gold mine in lead, sd
that sounds pretty similar to the technique we use in minecraft
You're telling me I can get my blood diamond set in ghost gold?
I have a complaint about this video which I understand is very petty but I need to say it anyway. At 4:52 your talking about an extinction event that was caused by volcanic activity yet you showed a video of an asteroid hitting earth.