Gold fever hits South Africa after lucky find in cattle pen

2 hours ago 1

Nomsa Maseko,Springs,

Richard Kagoeand

Natasha Booty

EPA/Shutterstock A man in a purple top and trousers holds a yellow pickaxe aloft in an area used recently as a cattle enclosure in South Africa. Other people can be seen digging behind him.

A gold rush has gripped an informal settlement east of the South African city of Johannesburg, after reports spread a few days ago about the discovery of some gold particles.

AFP/Getty Images A woman grimaces as she is helped by another woman to load a sack of soil on to her shoulder in a patch of land where artisanal miners look for gold outside Springs.

A resident in a poor neighbourhood of the former mining town of Springs claimed to have found several nuggets while digging at an outdoor enclosure used for cattle.

Dozens of people have now descended on the area and have been digging up the fenced area where the cows were once penned in, hoping to strike it rich.

AFP/Getty Images A woman uses a spade to fill a bucket with soil next to her children as artisanal miners dig holes looking for gold in a patch of land outside Springs.

Armed with pickaxes and shovels, they have been sifting through the soil in scenes reminiscent of the gold rush that helped built South Africa's financial capital more than a century ago.

Springs was once a booming gold town, but its mines were closed several years ago because the extreme depth of the shafts made operations uneconomical.

AFP/Getty Images Artisanal miners pan for gold in a hole dug in a patch of land where artisanal miners look for gold outside Springs.

The town is now surrounded by informal settlements many of whose residents are migrants from neighbouring countries.

South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources has condemned this week's mining activity in Spring's informal settle of Gugulethu, calling it illegal and warning that it is damaging the environment.

EPA/Shutterstock A close-up of someone's hands sifting through soil for gold deposits east of Johannesburg.

Some of those digging at the site have told the BBC that they have been able to find gold and have sold it on the black market.

Dangerous chemicals like mercury and sodium cyanide are used to separate the gold from the ore.

Thuthuka Zondi/BBC A man in blue overalls holds a spade as he washes gold granules with a colleague wearing a black jumper.

"We know this is illegal. We want the government to give us mining permits so we can work and pay tax," one man, who did not want to be named, told the BBC.

He explained that as a father of two children he needed to earn money to put them through school and put food on the table.

Thuthuka Zondi/BBC A man wearing a white and black stripped balaclava washes soil searching for gold.

Another man told the BBC: "This is the only hustle we know. It has saved many of us from being arrested for committing serious and violent crimes."

A gram of gold is worth about $100 (£74).

By contrast, the monthly minimum wage in South Africa is $368 (£270).

Thuthuka Zondi/BBC Small nuggets of gold in a pan in a residue of water and soil.

Many of those busy digging during the BBC's visit said they originally hailed from the neighbouring Lesotho.

Thuthuka Zondi/BBC Back view of a man in a yellow hat holding a pickaxe aloft digging in an old cattle field

At around 14:00 local time after the end of the school day, children started arriving at the site.

They had gone home first to change out of their uniforms and then rushed to the cattle enclosure to help their parents dig for gold.

EPA/Shutterstock A man in blue overalls pushes a wheelbarrow full of soil as people around him dig for gold east of Johannesburg.

While visiting the site, the BBC found that some of the ground had become unstable.

"Unregulated excavation may result in ground instability, placing nearby communities and particularly children at significant risk of injury or loss of life," the mining ministry warned in its statement on Tuesday.

Thuthuka Zondi/BBC A field formerly used for cattle riven with holes by those digging for gold.

So-called illegal mining is common in South Africa, and numerous people have died over the years while working in unsafe conditions.

Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would deploy the army to help the police fight criminal gangs and illegal mining in the country.

Thuthuka Zondi/BBC Lumps of dug earth in the cattle pen

The authorities blame illegal miners, known as "zama zamas", typically armed, undocumented foreign nationals, for their involvement in organised crime syndicates.

There is no official indication that this is at play in Springs.

Additional reporting by Thuthuka Zondi and Wycliffe Muia