Thursday, 20th July 2006 (2971 views)

African mining company DRDGold wants to increase its exploration concession in order to look for gold two miles underground, a move that it claims will be environmentally sound.

High gold prices have led to renewed interest in abandoned concessions and DRD wishes to increase its Argonaut concession to 4,800 hectares in order to explore the ground deep underneath southern Johannesburg, Mining Weekly reports.

"We are looking at the costs of drilling a deep hole," said the company's chief executive, Mark Wellesley-Wood. "You don't have to hack down the Brazilian jungle, the infrastructure is all there."

A public meeting will be held on 28th July to examine the environmental impact that the project would have, according to an advertisement in Johannesburg's Citizen newspaper.

Johannesburg, the most populous city in South Africa, was founded in order to develop the largest gold field in the world. Its Zulu name, Egoli, means place of gold.

DRDGold operates according to an environmental policy, core to which is "the integration of environmental management issues into the everyday business of running a mining group".

 

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