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{{Short description|Gold mine in Gauteng, South Africa}}
{{Update|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox gold mine
| name = TauTona
| image = TauTona Mine.jpg
| width = 150
| caption = Logo of the TauTona Mine
| pushpin_map = South Africa
| pushpin_label =TauTona Gold Mine
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in South Africa
| coordinates = {{coord|26|24|58|S|027|25|39|E|region:ZA|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| place = [[Carletonville, Gauteng|Carletonville]]
| subdivision_type = [[Provinces of South Africa|Province]]
| state/province = [[Gauteng]]
| country = [[South Africa]]
| owner = [[AngloGold Ashanti]]
| official website = [http://www.anglogoldashanti.com/ AngloGold Ashanti website]
| acquisition year =
| amount = 209,000 (2015)
| opening year = 1962
| closing year =2018
}}

The '''TauTona Mine''', formerly '''Western Deep Levels No.3 Shaft''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.infomine.com/index/properties/TAUTONA_(WESTERN_DEEP_NO.3_SHAFT).html|title = Comprehensive Mining Data}}</ref> is a [[gold mine]] located in the '''West Wits''' gold field west of [[Johannesburg]]. The mine is near the town of [[Carletonville, Gauteng|Carletonville]] in [[South Africa]]. At approximately {{convert|3.9|km|mi|sp=us}} deep, it is home to the world's second deepest mining operation, rivalled only by the [[Mponeng Gold Mine]], formerly '''Western Deep Levels No.1 Shaft'''.  TauTona was temporarily closed in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berry |first=India |date=10 December 2021 |title=Top 10 deepest mines in the world |url=https://miningdigital.com/top10/top-10-deepest-mines-world |website=Mining Digital Magazine}}</ref>

The mine was one of the three Western Deep Levels mines. TauTona neighbours its sister [[Mponeng Gold Mine|Mponeng]] and Savuka mines, with which there are interconnections underground on various levels. To the north-east lie the Driefontein shafts, which were developed around the same time by Goldfields.

Ore from TauTona and Savuka were formerly processed at the Savuka Gold Plant. Mponeng, the newest of the three, was built with its own gold plant. All three were owned by [[AngloGold Ashanti]] until they were purchased by [[Harmony Gold (mining)|Harmony Gold]] in 2020. Savuka was placed on care and maintenance in 2017, but continued as a pumping shaft to dewater the region to enable mining at active shafts, until it was finally closed in 2024.  

TauTona closed in 2018, but was reopened in 2020 as part of the Mponeng operations.  It is now known as Mponeng Mine: Carbon Leader Operations. TauTona Shaft remains in commission, but Carbon Leader reef mined at TauTona is trammed underground to Mponeng, where it is hoisted to surface and processed at the Mponeng Plant.  The Savuka Plant continues in operation only as a tailings retreatment facility.  Its 'front end' (milling) has been mothballed.
<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Savuka Gold Mine |url=http://wikimapia.org/5464941/Savuka-Gold-Mine |website=WikiMapia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Seccombe |first=Allan |date=12 February 2020 |title=End of an era as AngloGold exits SA |work=Business Day |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/mining/2020-02-12-end-of-an-era-as-anglogold-exits-sa/}}</ref>

TauTona mine was built by the [[Anglo American Corporation]].  Shaft sinking operations started in 1956 and the 2km-deep main surface shaft was commissioned in 1961, serving all levels down to 66L. The name TauTona means "great lion" in the [[Setswana language]]. The mine commenced ore production in 1962. It was one of the most efficient mines in South Africa, with attractively high gold grades, and remained in continuous operation even during periods when the price of gold was low. Initially, mining at TauTona concentrated on the Venterdorp Contact Reef (VCR), which has almost all been mined out.  However, the Carbon Leader Reef (CLR) , which is located several hundred metres in the footwall of the VCR, remains relatively untouched, and forms the basis of TauTona's new lease on life.  CLR mining is underway between 112 Level and 120 Level, all off the TV Shaft. 

Two more sub-shafts were added to bring the mine to its current depth. The secondary sub-shaft serves from 66L down to 100L, and the Tertiary Vertical Shaft (TV Shaft) extends down to 120L, 3,595m below collar.  

The mine had some {{convert|800|km|abbr=on}} of tunnels, and employed around 5,600 miners at its peak.  Current staffing levels are far lower.  The mine was a dangerous place to work, with an average of five miners dying in accidents each year. The mine is so deep that virgin rock temperatures in the mine can rise to life-threatening levels. Refrigeration equipment is used to cool the mine from {{convert|55|°C}} down to a more tolerable {{convert|28|°C}}. The rock face temperature reaches {{convert|60|°C}}.

By 2008, the mine reached {{convert|3.9|km|abbr=on}} underground. This made it the deepest mine in the world (at that time), surpassing the {{convert|3.5|km|abbr=on}} deep [[East Rand Mine]] by a considerable margin. This new shaft extended the depth from its previous {{convert|3.5|km|abbr=on}}, with the intent of extending the mine's life to 2015.<ref name="TauTonaExtended">{{cite news |title=TauTona, Anglo Gold - Mining Technology |url=http://www.mining-technology.com/projects/tautona_goldmine/ |publisher=SPG Media Group PLC |date=2009-01-01 |accessdate=2009-03-02 }}</ref>

The shaft conveyances that transported the workers from the surface to the bottom travelled at 16 metres per second (36&nbsp;mph / 58&nbsp;km/h) so together with travelling in man carriages operating in the haulages, the journey to the working stopes and development ends could take over an hour from the surface.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chamberofmines.org.za/mine/down-the-mine-shaft |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726002653/http://chamberofmines.org.za/mine/down-the-mine-shaft |archive-date=2014-07-26 |title=MINE Initiative {{!}} COMSA {{!}} Down The Mine Shaft}}</ref> The mine has been featured on the ''[[MegaStructures]]'' television program produced by the [[National Geographic Channel]].

Current planning reveals a realistic Life Of Mine (LOM) on the CLR mining horizon to 2029, excluding any extension.  The foreseeable LOM potential is to 2035, including shaft pillar mining.

In the 2008 financial year, there were 7 fatal accidents at AngloGold Ashanti's West Wits operations in which 14 miners died, four of those at the TauTona mine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anglogold.com/NR/rdonlyres/E10625B3-3762-47A5-9739-77C09F317C2A/0/WestWits2008.pdf|title=AngloGold Ashanti website: South Africa country report 2008|year=2008|publisher=AngloGold Ashanti|accessdate=2009-09-22

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007193113/http://www.anglogold.com/NR/rdonlyres/E10625B3-3762-47A5-9739-77C09F317C2A/0/WestWits2008.pdf
  |archivedate=2009-10-07
  |url-status=dead
}}</ref> 

==Production==
Production figures of the TauTona Mine were the following:
{| class="wikitable"
|- align="center" bgcolor="gold"
| '''Year'''
| '''Production'''
| '''Grade'''
| '''Cost per ounce'''
|- align="center"
| 2003 <ref name="Annualfive">[http://www.anglogoldashanti.co.za/subwebs/InformationForInvestors/AnnualReport05/report/pdf/ar_report_2005.pdf Annual Report 2005] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719053855/http://www.anglogoldashanti.co.za/subwebs/InformationForInvestors/AnnualReport05/report/pdf/ar_report_2005.pdf |date=2011-07-19 }} AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 11 July 2010</ref>
| 646,000 ounces
| 12.09 g/t
| [[United States dollar|US$]] 171
|- align="center"
| 2004 <ref name="Annualfive" />
| 568,000 ounces
| 10.88 g/t
| US$245
|- align="center"
| 2005 <ref name="Annualfive" />
| 502,000 ounces
| 9.62 g/t
| US$256
|- align="center"
| 2006 <ref name="Annualsix">[http://www.anglogold.com/NR/rdonlyres/5F4B53A4-2DE4-43EC-87AB-BDB13F5C8C1F/0/ar_report_2006.pdf Annual Report 2006] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707144403/http://www.anglogold.com/NR/rdonlyres/5F4B53A4-2DE4-43EC-87AB-BDB13F5C8C1F/0/ar_report_2006.pdf |date=2011-07-07 }} AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 11 July 2010</ref>
| 474,000 ounces
| 10.18 g/t
| US$269
|- align="center"
| 2007 <ref name="Annualnine">[http://www.anglogoldashanti.com/subwebs/InformationForInvestors/Reports09/AnnualReport09/f/AGA_AR09.pdf Annual Report 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912032422/http://www.anglogoldashanti.com/subwebs/InformationForInvestors/Reports09/AnnualReport09/f/AGA_AR09.pdf |date=2011-09-12 }} AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 9 May 2010</ref>
| 409,000 ounces
| 9.67 g/t
| US$317
|- align="center"
| 2008 <ref name="Annualnine" />
| 314,000 ounces
| 8.66 g/t
| US$374
|- align="center"
| 2009 <ref name="Annualnine" />
| 218,000 ounces
| 7.29 g/t
| US$559
|- align="center"
| 2010 <ref name="Annualeleven" >[http://www.aga-reports.com/11/download/AGA-annual-integrated-report-2011.pdf Annual Report 2011] AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 30 dec '12</ref>
| 259,000 ounces
| 7.01 g/t
| US$700
|- align="center"
| 2011 <ref name="Annualeleven" />
| 244,000 ounces
| 7.55 g/t
| US$818
|- align="center"
| 2012 <ref name="Annualtwelve">[http://www.aga-reports.com/12/download/AGA-annual-integrated-report-2012.pdf Annual Report 2012] AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 11 nov '13</ref>
| 189,000 ounces
| 7.63 g/t
| US$924
|- align="center"
| 2013 <ref name="Annualthirteen">[http://www.anglogoldashanti.com/en/Media/Reports/Integrated%20Reports/AGAannualintegratedreport2013.pdf Annual Report 2013] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305022635/http://www.anglogoldashanti.com/en/Media/Reports/Integrated%20Reports/AGAannualintegratedreport2013.pdf |date=2016-03-05 }} AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 24 mar '16</ref>
| 235,000 ounces
| 7.34 g/t
| US$920
|- align="center"
| 2014 <ref name="Annualfourteen">{{Cite web|url=http://www.anglogoldashanti.com/en/Media/Reports/Annual%20Reports/AGA-IR14.pdf|title=Annual Report 2014}}</ref>
| 232,000 ounces
| 8.21 g/t
| US$882
|- align="center"
| 2015 <ref name="Annualfifteen">{{Cite web|url=http://www.anglogoldashanti.com/en/Media/Reports/Annual%20Reports/IR2015.pdf|title=Annual Report 2015}}</ref>
| 209,000 ounces
| 8.46 g/t
| US$883
|- align="center"
|2016 <ref>{{Cite web |date=22 March 2017 |title=AngloGold Ashanti integrated report 2016 |url=https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ungc-production/attachments/cop_2017/373981/original/AGA-IR-2016.pdf?1491593768}}</ref>
|146,000 ounces
|7.59 g/t
|US$1,148
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://mines.acp.int/html/mine_ZAF-00566_en.html Tau Tona mine (ZAF-00566)] ''Secretariat of the [[African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States]] website''

{{AngloGold Ashanti}}
{{Greater Johannesburg|econ}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gold mines in South Africa]]
[[Category:Underground mines in South Africa]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Gauteng]]
[[Category:AngloGold Ashanti]]
[[Category:Economy of Gauteng]]
[[Category:Non-renewable resource companies established in 1962]]
[[Category:1962 establishments in South Africa]]

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