Loading ...South African Gold Industry Enters Final Phase of Slow Death
Back in 1987, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa — then a 34-year-old labor union leader — led 300,000 black miners in a strike that symbolized resistance to the apartheid regime. Now, striking gold workers face a less politically charged battle, but one they can’t win.
The nation’s 130-year-old gold industry — which has produced half the bullion ever mined on Earth — is locked in the final stages of a decades-long death spiral. Most of South Africa’s gold mines are unprofitable at current prices.