RON DERBY: Gold is the saviour of the mining sector that refused to be resurrected
In the years that I have been reporting on the SA economy I've met quite a few investors who could be tagged with the nickname "Mr Gold". These are men who still believe that the 1970s could one day replay themselves. While the country's politics were ruinous and the apartheid experiment was collapsing all around them, for an investor in any of the many gold mines that were once listed on the local bourse the '70s certainly were boom time. It was a decade that saw mining forge ahead of all other industries in the country and at the end of it its contribution to economic production would peak at 21%. For every R100 made in the economy in 1980, when Joy's Paradise Road was SA's number one single, R21 came from mining. Today, mining is but a shadow of its former self, with the sector now only making up about 7% of the overall economy. In a few years we'll be marking 50 years since gold production peaked. Whatever the promise of mechanisation it hasn't delivered what some of the metal's...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.