South Deep is a deep-level underground gold mine located along the northern and western margins of the Witwatersrand Basin, which has been the primary contributor to South Africa’s production and a significant portion of the world’s recorded gold output since 1886. Gold mineralisation at South Deep is hosted by conglomerates of the Upper Elsburg reefs and the Ventersdorp Contact Reef (VCR). The Upper Elsburg reefs sub-crop against the VCR in a north-easterly trend, which defines their western limits. To the east of the sub-crop, the Upper Elsburg reefs are preserved in an easterly diverging sedimentary wedge attaining a total thickness of approximately 120 metres, which is subdivided into the lower “Individuals” and the overlying “Massives” to the west of the sub-crop, only the VCR is preserved. The stratigraphic units at South Deep generally dip southward at approximately 12 to 15 degrees and the gold-bearing reefs occur at depths of 1,500 metres to 3,500 metres below surface. In general, the gold mineralisation hosted by the conglomerates is laterally continuous with long range predictability and clear patterns of predictable mineralisation governed by sedimentary characteristics. Production at South Deep is currently derived from the Upper Elsburg Reefs. In general terms, the Upper Elsburg succession represents an easterly prograding sedimentary sequence, with the Massives containing higher gold grades and showing more proximal sedimentological attributes in the eastern ........

South Deep is an underground mechanised mine, using an owner mining workforce. Reserves are accessed through de-stress and shadow development cuts to manage rock stress and seismic activity. A number of selective mining methods, including drifts and benches, are employed but long-hole stoping with paste fill is the primary bulk mining method. Significant focus is on frontline coaching to improve compliance to plan and productivity. Mining method and extraction sequence optimisation is ongoing. The workings are accessed from the surface through two shaft systems, the Twin Shaft complex (main and ventilation shafts), of which the main shaft comprises a single-drop to 110A level, a depth of 2,998m, the vent shaft to 110 level at a depth of 2,947m and the South Shaft complex, which is a subvertical system (three operating shafts) to 95 level at a depth of 2,786m. The mine is divided into three main areas: 1. Current Mine (CM), characterised by selective mining methods scattered over a large area originally exploited by means of conventional tabular mining. CM is accessed from four active levels (90, 93 and 95) from both the South Shaft and Twin Shaft complexes. 2. The North of Wrench (NoW), directly south and down dip of CM, comprises six mining corridors separated by regional pillars that extend southwards to the Wrench fault. A bulk non-selective mining method is applied, resulting in a higher Resources to Reserves conversion ratio. 3. The South of Wrench (SoW) east and ........

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