Vaal Reefs

Vaal Reefs is a gold bearing reef which is mined near the town of Orkney in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality in the North West province of South Africa.

Vaal Reefs
Vaal Reefs is located in North West (South African province)
Vaal Reefs
Vaal Reefs
Vaal Reefs is located in South Africa
Vaal Reefs
Vaal Reefs
Coordinates: 26.929°S 26.736°E / -26.929; 26.736
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceNorth West
DistrictDr Kenneth Kaunda
MunicipalityCity of Matlosana
Area
[1]
 • Total6.15 km2 (2.37 sq mi)
Population
 (2001)[1]
 • Total11,345
 • Density1,800/km2 (4,800/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2001)
[1]
 • Black African94.8%
 • Coloured0.2%
 • White5.0%
First languages (2001)
[1]
 • Xhosa34.7%
 • Sotho26.1%
 • Tswana14.3%
 • Tsonga6.0%
 • Other18.9%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)

The town of Orkney is home to a large gold mining operation originally owned by AngloGold Ashanti, a company that was originally incorporated in 1944 under the name of Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Company Limited.[2]

Disaster
Main article: Vaal Reefs mining disaster

A mining accident on 10 May 1995 killed 104 miners. A locomotive fell into an elevator shaft at the edge of 56 level, 1,676 metres (5,499 ft) below the surface, landing on the cage and causing it to plunge 460 metres (1,510 ft) to the bottom.[3][4] It is the deadliest ever elevator disaster.[5]

This tragedy brought two key changes to the mining industry: The immediate implementation of a new Health & Safety Act and shareholders providing compensation to dead workers' dependents. In this case, 431 dependents became beneficiaries of the Vaal Reefs Disaster Trust. They lived or live across South Africa (114), Lesotho (219), Mozambique (54), Botswana (31) and Eswatini (13).[6]

References
  1. "Main Place Vaal Reefs". Census 2001.
  2. "Group information" (PDF). AngloGold Ashanti Limited. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  3. "104 miners are crushed to death when an elevator carrying gold miners plunges to the bottom of a Vaal Reef mineshaft near Orkney". South African History Online. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  4. "Locomotive crushes 105 gold miners". The Independent. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  5. Vaal Reefs Tragedy Commemorated
  6. About Vaal Reefs Disaster Trust


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