Gold Mining Company Research Articles

Dust Deposition Impacts at a Liquidated Gold Mine Village: Gauteng Province in South Africa.

The windy season brings numerous community complaints for gold mining companies situated in the Witwatersrand due to windblown dust from partially rehabilitated tailings storage facilities (TSFs). For communities encroaching onto TSFs, windblown dust is perceived as a health hazard and an environmental challenge. In a study conducted in 2017 by the Lawyers for Human Rights, the community of a gold mine village perceived tailings storage facility 6 (TSF6) and other surrounding tailings storage facilities which are partially rehabilitated to be a health and socio-economic threat. Since 2013, when a nearby gold mining company was liquidated, this community has been complaining about dust fallout. To validate the claims made by the community this paper reports on the dust deposition impacts, and respiratory illnesses risk posed by wind-blown generated dust. The study conducts an air quality assessment using dispersion modelling of windblown dust. Surface material from the TSFs was sampled, analysed for silica and heavy metal content using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) respectively. This study finds that PM10 dust fallout, high in silica and uranium content, could potentially pose health threats to the surrounding community. The study further shows that dust deposition is the highest in July–October, with TSF6 posing a nuisance while TSF1 represents a potential health threat owing to its particle size distribution for the surrounding gold mine village community. Potential receptors of the air pollution by dust in this study area include neighbouring property owners, business owners of the nearby shopping centre, the school and the clinic. This study further finds that sudden mine closure due to mine liquidation results in unrehabilitated tailings storage facilities which exacerbates dust deposition.

Analytical Hierarchy Process for Enhancing Procurement Decision-Making in Project Phase: A Case Study in the Gold Mining Project

The aim of the research was to enhance the selection for the process plant equipment supplier based on their country of origin in the gold mining project using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The research also intended to investigate how AHP could further enhance the process of the project. The steps for modeling the AHP were identifying the hierarchy by the project team, constructing the AHP model, and calculating the weight for supplier selection. The research object was a gold mining company based in Indonesia. The schedule and resources were calculated, followed by a survey to evaluate the AHP process. After modeling and calculating using AHP, it is found that the three highest criteria for selecting the process plant equipment suppliers are running capacity (14,3 %), efficiency (9,9%), and endurance (9,7%). The overall scores for each supplier show that supplier from United States (25,87%) is in the first rank. It is followed by Germany (25,80%) and Australia (25,20%). Moreover, AHP is proven to enhance the process by not only reducing the time of decision-making for two days but also increasing the resource by almost 23%. Based on the survey to the project team, AHP increases the involvement of the project team in the decision-making process and shows that more than 80% of the project team agrees with the decision. The survey also reveals that almost 63% of the project team decides to use the same tools for the decision-making process.

The precious metals as a segment of the financial market

The article discusses the state of the precious metals market. The main focus is on the gold market, namely, production, demand, and prices. The role of Central banks in the precious metals market is noted. The state of the gold market in certain Western countries is analyzed. The role of London as a global center of gold is noted. The gold market in Russia is considered separately: the production of precious metal, the role of banks, the country,s Central Bank, and gold mining companies. Data on the state of the silver, platinum and palladium markets are provided.

Sustainable treatment of real-mine drainage using crude glycerol and brewery waste as electron donors in a micro-aerobic system

This study evaluated the sustainability of biological mine drainage (MD) treatment using industrial by-products. Crude glycerol (CG) from biodiesel production and trub—a brewery waste — were used as electron donors for the biological reduction of sulfate. Batch assays were prepared using anaerobic inoculum (from a domestic sewage treatment plant) and mine drainage (from a gold mining company). The MD showed high concentrations of pollutants (in mg.L−1): 3,860.5 sulfate, 1.39 arsenic, 14.77 cadmium, 1.78 lead, 3.85 antimony, and 209.03 zin. Under a chemical oxygen demand/SO42− ratio of 3.2, sulfate removal was similar among tested substrates and positive controls of pure glycerol (PG) and ethanol, between 89.5 and 92.2 % of sulfate removed. The removal of Pb using crude glycerol was 88.3 %, while that for the other metals was above 99 %. On the other hand, the removal of all metals was over 99 % using trub. The substrates CG and trub were good carbon sources as compared to the positive controls. It is thus believed that industrial by-products are as effective as positive controls in making the MD treatment more sustainable by eliminating organic substrate acquisition costs and the consumption of products requiring treatment before environment discharge. To obtain 1 g of COD with trub, 538 mL of product is consumed at no cost. To obtain the same COD value with CG, PG and ethanol is necessary to invest US $ 0.0053, 0.1184 and 14.4, respectively.

3D inversion modelling of gravity data to identify gold mineralization zones in region “X”, Pongkor

Gold originates from hydrothermal liquids and is deposited in the form of epithermal deposits. Structures such as faults play an important role in the process of gold deposition because they form hydrothermal flow paths to the surface. One method that can be used for gold exploration is the gravity method. This method can identify gold mineralization zones in the faults of a research area. Three-dimensional (3D) inversion modeling can be used to obtain further information on a target. Such modeling allows the process to be more realistic because the geometry model can be fitted to the actual conditions in the field, which allows the measurements to be more accurate. The gravity data acquisition for this study was performed by PT. Antam Tbk gold mining company in Pongkor. The hydrothermal deposit area is categorized as containing low sulfidation epithermal deposits. Analysis and interpretation of the gravity data were performed using derivative analyses, a spectrum analysis, and 3D gravity inversion modeling. The results show gold mineralization zones in the middle of the study area that have high gravity anomalies at the faults. There are eight faults detected in the potential gold mineralization zone. From the inversion result, the density of the rocks in the gold mineralization zone was determined to be in the range of 2.80–3.34 g/cm3.

АСПЕКТЫ ЗОЛОТОДОБЫЧИ ВЗАИМОДЕЙСТВУЮЩИХ РЕГИОНОВ (на примере участников комплексного инвестиционного проекта «Енисейская Сибирь»)

The article presents the results of the study of the gold market, taking into account the analysis of development trends, developed proposals for determining the optimal aspects of the work of gold mining companies in the Russian reality. methods of collecting and processing information, statistical analysis were used. The factors and reasons hindering the development of gold mining are described. The directions of achieving the strategic goals of the industry are reflected. it is concluded that the state needs to strengthen the legal framework and simplify the mechanism for obtaining licensing, but the main negative aspect is the lack of financial resources.

IMPROVING DATA MANAGEMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING IN THE GOLD MINING INDUSTRY

Environmental reporting is a realistic alternative for mines to prioritise operational changes in crucial environmental areas. Gold mines report to multiple platforms – i.e., integrated reporting. All these platforms have created the need for effective environmental data management. A methodology was developed in which the environmental performance data for numerous operations is centralised. A standardised reporting procedure was developed for each environmental data category that includes the different stakeholders’ needs. Focus was also placed on reducing the data transfer errors due to the importance of data accuracy. The methodology is based on the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle and was implemented at a gold mining company. After implementation, the rate of transfer error that would have been recorded in the data was reduced from 20 percent to four percent. This error rate was recorded before an external audit took place.

Risk-management system for gold mining companies

Risk-management system for gold mining companies

Практический опыт современных внешних и внутренних угроз обеспечения экономической безопасности золотодобывающих предприятий

To date, the practice of the largest gold mining companies has accumulated extensive experience in ensuring their economic security from threats that may arise both from the external and internal side. The purpose of this article is to describe them in detail, the causes of the production process and the economic consequences they may have on the company.

Exacting silicosis justice through the class action mechanism

In the landmark decision in Nkala & others v Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited & others 2016 (5) SA 240 (GJ), the South Gauteng High Court certified a class action suit instituted by representatives of tens of thousands of mineworkers against the South African gold mining industry, with the intent of claiming damages arising from the occupational diseases of silicosis and tuberculosis. This article contextualizes the Nkala case against the use of the class action mechanism as a tool for social policy change and the promotion of access to justice. It provides an overview of the parties, design, and key legal findings of the Nkala decision and, in particular, elaborates on how the Nkala bench framed the purpose of the class action suit and dealt with the prospect of entrepreneurial lawyering.

Flexible Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from A Chinese Company in Africa

In the emergent field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) studies, there has been growing interest in understanding and practice in particular sociocultural contexts in developing countries. As a rising force of overseas investment, Chinese enterprises are increasingly encountering local challenges stemming from CSR. This paper is an ethnographic study of a Chinese gold mining company in contemporary Ghana in regard to CSR knowledge and practice. It investigates how multiple actors negotiate understandings of CSR in a Chinese gold mining company as compared with an American gold mining company. The research was conducted near the mining sites located in Odumase of Eastern region and Juaso of Ashanti region of Ghana during 2016. Its CSR practice was compared with that of the Akyem mining site operated by an American mining corporation. Through ethnographic fieldwork, this paper contextualizes the construction of diverse understandings of CSR among multiple actors in this Chinese investment project. It also demonstrates how both formal and informal engagements with affected communities constitute its CSR practice. Based on a case study and comparison with an American mining company, this paper finds that large-scale Chinese mining operation in Africa is receptive of the concept of CSR but its practice is very unique.

Are Close of Pleadings now Irrelevant? An Evaluation of the Impact the Nkala Judgment has on Litis Contestatio

The position regulating close of pleadings in South African law of civil procedure has for a long time been unchallenged. However, the court in Nkala v Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited 2016 5 SA 240 (GJ) developed the common law to allow for the transmissibility of claims for general damages to the deceased's estate even if pleadings have not reached the stage of litis contestatio. The argument is that while the need for the development for the common law is recognised, the minority opinion should be the preferred approach. The majority held that the common law should be developed to allow all claims for general damages to be transmissible to the deceased's estate even if the stage of litis contestatio has not been reached. This note posits that the points raised by the minority opinion are of sufficient magnitude to prevent the immediate wholesale development of the common law. Detailed legal argument specifically addressing the development of the common law as a whole in this context, as well as the knock-on effects of the same were not ventilated, and as such the majority judgment can be viewed as premature. The paper provides an analytical and critical view of the judgment.
 

Sustainable development in Ghana's gold mines: Clarifying the stakeholder's perspective

Abstract Using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs), this study examined critical stakeholder's perceptions, experiences and competence in assuring the sustainable management of Ghana's major gold mines. The investigation was inspired by a synthesis of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the global community in September 2015; it places human resource capacity at the center of a sustainability struggle between local and international businesses. The findings of this study encompass two opposing but interesting perspectives. On the one hand, the study showed that sustainable development is understood differently by stakeholders within the gold mining sector in Ghana, which is why gold mining companies employ different approaches in their pursuit of sustainability objectives. On the other hand, the study revealed that, as mining activities are similar across different mining companies, common understanding and operation of sustainable development in the country's gold mines is a more practical approach to sustaining mining operations. This study further revealed that to facilitate the effective implementation of sustainable development within Ghana's gold mines and to ensure its alignment with SDGs, a regulatory framework is required and this should be developed based on the input of stakeholders.

Understanding the mining-local governance nexus – a Ghanaian case study

The demands for mining companies to play a role in local governance overlook the implications of their participation. This article investigates how the presence and initiatives of mining companies affect the roles of district assemblies in Ghana using the case of the Newmont gold mining company and the Birim North district. Employing a qualitative-case-study approach, the article demonstrates that the company’s initiatives enhance the plan implementation and the revenue mobilization roles of the district assembly. However, the presence and initiatives by the company undermine the management role of the district assembly in relation to its ability to pursue holistic development. The company’s initiatives have mixed influences on the representative role of the district assembly. Optimizing local governance in mining communities requires district assemblies to proactively engage mining companies to avoid a derailment of their roles. More research is required to unearth appropriate local governance frameworks for optimizing mining outcomes.

Flight to Quality - Gold Mining Shares versus Gold Bullion

This paper uses the co-movement of gold mining shares with the price of gold to assess the strength of flight to quality by distinguishing between flight to physical gold and flight to gold mining company shares. The analysis of a global sample of gold mining companies reveals that flights to quality are very different across financial shocks with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the Brexit vote being the most extreme at opposite ends of the spectrum. We also find evidence that a flight from gold mining shares to gold leads to a stronger price reaction and thus to a stronger safe haven effect of gold bullion. The analysis demonstrates that gold mining companies can enrich our understanding of the flight to quality phenomenon.

РЕГИОНАЛЬНАЯ СПЕЦИФИКА И ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЕ АСПЕКТЫ ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ УСТОЙЧИВОГО РАЗВИТИЯ ЗОЛОТОПРОМЫШЛЕННЫХ ПРЕДПРИЯТИЙ САХА-ЯКУТИИ

The article focuses on the issues of sustainable, balanced development of enterprises of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) engaged in the gold mining and refining. The main purpose of the study is to develop offers for improving management model and mechanism of gold mining enterprises in Yakutia, considering regional characteristics of such activity. Within the framework of the study, a wide range of theoretical sources was analyzed, and gaps in scientific papers related to the topic of this work were identified. The methodological basis is: systems theory and systems approach, economic and mathematical models of company management, investment design, and theoretical research in the field of business valuation. The fundamental components of the authors-proposed improved model of strategic management of gold mining enterprises, with the specifics of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), were considered. The obtained results were tested by gold mining companies of Yakutia, what led to their results improvement and contributed to the increase of business stability and strengthening of competitive positions.

The Results of Statistical Research of the Activities of the World’s Largest Gold Mining Companies

The Results of Statistical Research of the Activities of the World’s Largest Gold Mining Companies

GOLD MINING IN SALAIR IN THE LATE XIX – EARLY XX CENTURIES

The research determines the dynamics of gold mining and identifies the specifics of the development of the gold industry in Salair in the late XIX – early XX centuries. The Salair ridge was then under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty. At the end of the XIX century, the Cabinet spent a lot of money on geological survey of the ridge and invested in the development of the local gold mines. The extraction of gold during this period fluctuated within 6–8 poods (1 pood = 16 kg). At the beginning of the XX century, the Cabinet leased the Salair mines to private entrepreneurs and joint-stock companies. Such agreements were signed by Prince A. von Thurn und Taxis and Dr. Josef Jeanne (Austria), Arthur Stanley and mining engineer Farrukh Bek-Vezirov (Great Britain), State Councilor Berezin (Russia), and The Russian Gold Mining Company. Private companies operated more successfully than the Cabinet. In the XX century the extraction of gold in Salair increased. However, after the companies had developed the ready retrievable gold deposits, they ceased operating. As the calculations have shown, more than 3.6 tons of gold were mined on the Salair Ridge in 1892 – 1915. The main feature of the Salair gold mining was that gold was extracted both by the Cabinet and private companies, which means that state and private capital acted in parallel.

Practical risk management at gold mining companies

Practical risk management at gold mining companies

Strategic Aspects of Ensuring Sustainable Development of Gold Enterprises of the Russian Federation

This article focuses on the sustainable, equilibrium development of Russian enterprises engaged in the extraction and processing of gold. The conditions for the effective activity of companies in the field of gold mining were considered. The main factors causing crisis situations and problems in the strategic management of gold mining enterprises of the Russian Federation were highlighted. The main objective of the study was to develop proposals for improving the model and mechanism of the strategic management of the gold mining company. The study analyzed a wide range of theoretical sources, identified gaps in scientific works in contact with the topic of this work. These gaps were associated primarily with the inadequate reflection in the existing models of industrial enterprise management of the specifics of the activities of gold companies and the lack of key components of the model, affecting sustainable business development. The methodological basis of the study was: Systems theory and systems approach, economic and mathematical models of firm management, investment design, theoretical studies in the field of business valuation. In connection with the growing risks, socio-economic instability, the fall in the growth rate of gold mining, the problems presented in the study are relevant. Maintaining competitiveness and improving performance indicators requires the improvement of the process of the strategic management of mining companies. This article discusses the fundamental components of an improved model of strategic management of gold mining enterprises proposed by the authors, presents a graphical model, suggests directions for describing an improved management mechanism for a gold mining company using mathematical modeling methods designed to link the most problematic components and gold mining business processes: investment, technology intelligence and gold mining, capital investment, timing of the project Comrade, the profitability of production. The dynamic simulation model of strategic management presented in this study and strategy assessment tools based on the concept of the organization’s life cycle take into account the specifics of the activities of gold companies in Russia; were introduced into the practice of the enterprises of Siberia, Sakha-Yakutia, which led to increased economic sustainability and improved financial performance of these companies.