South African Coal Mines Resume Work
At the end of January, South Africa’s
coal mines resumed production after
being idled January 25 because of power
cuts, according to BBC News. And the
main gold, diamond and platinum mines
had also been idled, but powered up.
Full power was expected to be restored
by February 1. Coal is used to generate
about 90% of electricity supplies at
state power company Eskom. The government
admitted it was wrong to refuse
to invest in electricity generation several
years ago, when asked by Eskom. South
Africa’s three largest gold producers
AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and
Harmony suspended production, along
with the world’s largest platinum miner,
Anglo Platinum, and diamond firm De
Beers. This led to a sharp rise in the
price of gold and other precious metals. South Africa had
already reduced electricity supplies to
its neighbors.
As featured in Womp 08 Vol 1 - www.womp-int.com