<P> Silica dust is an ever - present potential hazard so that all drilling dust and loose rock has to be wetted down at all times to prevent silicosis, a lethal disease that attacks the lungs . Unfortunately the narrowness of the inclined reefs / orebodies prevents mechanisation except in a very few cases and most work is very labour - intensive . Ventilation requirements to keep working conditions tolerable are huge and a survey of the South African gold mines indicated that the average quantity of ventilating air circulated was some 6 cubic metres per second (210 cu ft / s) per 1000 ton of rock mined per month . </P> <P> Another serious problem is that of heat . In the deeper mines refrigeration of the intake air is often necessary to keep conditions tolerable and this is now becoming necessary on some platinum mines which, although shallower, have a higher geothermal gradient . Refrigeration is very energy hungry and it is currently a moot point whether ESKOM, the state power company, can supply the necessary power after its recent problems, which will cut power supplies to 90% of previous levels until at least 2012, when a new powerstation is ready . </P> <P> The South African mining industry is frequently criticized for its poor safety record and high number of fatalities but conditions are improving . Total fatalities were 533 in 1995 and had fallen to 199 in 2006 . The overall fatality rate in 2006 was 0.43 per 1,000 per annum but this hides some important differences . The gold mining rate was 0.71, platinum mining was 0.24 and other mining was 0.35 . (For comparison, the rate in the Sixties was around 1.5--see any Chamber of Mines Annual of the period). The reason for the difference is quite clear; the gold mines are much deeper and conditions are both more difficult and dangerous than on the shallower platinum mines . </P> <P> Falls of ground dominated the causes at 72, machinery, transportation and mining accidents caused 70 and the remainder were classed as general . Of the falls of ground, approximately two thirds were on the deep gold mines, a reflection of the extreme pressure at depth and continual movement of the country rock . Amongst the machinery, mining and transportation fatalities were working on grizzlies without safety belts, working below loose rock in ore passes, getting crushed by that deadly combination of a loco and a ventilation door frame (the clearance between the two is only a few inches) and working on running conveyors, all direct contraventions of safety instructions . Drilling into misfires was also mentioned, a clear example of sloppy and unsafe mining . </P>

Where does gold mining take place in south africa