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Location: 77 Km SW from Carletonville, South Africa
3 Stilfontein RdStilfonteinSouth Africa2551
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Material contained in the Tailings Storage Facilitys (TSF) and Waste Rock Dumps (WRD) predominantly originates from deep level gold mines, operated by Harmony and others, mostly located in Klerksdorp and Carletonville. The West Wits mining operations predominantly extract tabular goldbearing conglomeratic reefs, namely the Carbon Leader Reef (CLR) and Ventersdorp Contact Reef (VCR). The Mine Waste Solutions (MWS) Operation, however, mainly exploits TSFs and WRD derived from the VR.The Witwatersrand reefs occur within the Archean Witwatersrand Basin which hosts the Witwatersrand Supergroup succession. The VCR horizon is located at the top of the Turffontein Subgroup of the Central Rand Group (CRG), capping the Witwatersrand Supergroup. The Vaal Reef (VR) horizon is situated within the Krugersdorp Formation, in the Johannesburg Subgroup of the CRG. The CLR is situated near the base of the Johannesburg Subgroup.The TSF material comprises previously treated residues of gold-bearing conglomeratic reefs processed by CIL. They are man-made “deposits” and are not the result of natural sedimentary processes. The grade of the TSFs is determined by the grade of the ore source at the time that they were processed, and the processing efficiency.The WRDs are unconsolidated and are comprised of untreated, low grade, gold-bearing material from underground workings. The WRDs are also man-made deposits, with very little structure or continuity, and one in which the grade does not behave as a natural mineral deposit.The most significant mineral in the TSFs and WRDs is quartz, which makes up more than 60% of the bulk mineral composition. The gold predominantly occurs in pyrite. Other minerals identified include uranium, iron oxide, titanium oxide and calcite from the VR, VCR and CLR conglomerates.The gold present in the TSFs is fine grained, less than 20µm on average, with the majority of the gold being locked up with poor surface exposure.The main uranium mineral in the Witwatersrand Supergroup is uraninite. Uraninite grains are associated with gold and other heavy minerals such as pyrite, chromite, zircon, rutile. The grain size of the uraniferous minerals identified within the TSF are between 20 - 40µm.
