Moab Khotsong is situated within the Klerksdorp Goldfield on the western margin of the Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa, one of the most prominent gold provinces in the world. The major gold bearing conglomerate reefs are mostly confined to the Central Rand Group (CRG) of the Witwatersrand Supergroup. The geology at Moab Khotsong is structurally complex, with large fault-loss areas between the three mining areas (top mine (Great Noligwa), middle mine and lower mine (growth project and Zaaiplaats project in execution phase). The Vaal Reef is the primary economic horizon at Moab Khotsong. A secondary economic horizon, the C-Reef, contributes less than 5% of total mining volumes. Both reefs are narrow tabular deposits forming part of the Witwatersrand Supergroup and are stratigraphically located near the middle of the Central Rand Group. The Vaal Reef lies approximately 255m below the C-Reef. The CRG is up to 2,100m thick in the Vaal River area and the general orientation of the Witwatersrand Supergroup succession in this goldfield is interpreted as southwest-trending and southeast dipping. A series of northeast-trending faults including the Buffelsdoorn, the Kromdraai, the Buffels East and the Jersey Faults, is a key feature of the Klerksdorp Goldfield and the key structural features at Moab Khotsong are related to this series of faults. Moab Khotsong exploits gold mineralisation occurring in the VR. This reef is stratigraphically located near the top of the Johannesburg ........

Moab Khotsong is the youngest of the South African deep-level gold mines with three vertical shaft systems maintained to service the mine. The orebody is subdivided by major faults into three distinct geographical mining areas. These are referred to as top mine and middle mine, accessed through Moab Khotsong shaft, and Zaaiplaats, accessed through a decline system off the base of the Moab Khotsong shaft.

The tabular nature of the orebody, along with its depth and structural complexity, dictates the mining method employed at Moab Khotsong. The primary mining method used at Moab Khotsong is conventional breast mining, on a scattered grid. The method, as opposed to sequential grid mining, is necessitated by the complex geology at Moab Khotsong, which prevents the implementation of a strict mining sequence. Moab Khotsong makes extensive use of backfill for the support of stopes. The economic reef horizons of top and middle mine are exploited between depths of 1 698m and 3 054m below surface.

Zaaiplaats is located between the elevations of 3 054m and 3 526m below surface. Zaaiplaats will be accessed by declines from the north-eastern end of the Zaaiplaats ground to take advantage of the existing access development in place.

The Scattered Mining makes use of pillars with a pre-developed grid of tunnels, aimed at providing geological information ahead of the mining face, in order to control geotechnical stress. The Geotechnical Engineering department ........

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