Boston, MA 10/14/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Who once topped the list of exploited workers, are now on the top most of the list of the most highly paid workers. The gold miners in South Africa who were once the subject of racial criticism and were disowned by most under apartheid are today among the most highly paid workers. Gold mining companies in South Africa including the country’s biggest producer of bullion, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., are facing inflation problems. In Africa prices have soared up more than three times as compared to what they were in the year 2007.
This price rise is because now mines have to be dug even deeper under the earth. Some mines have reached as low as 2.4 miles under the surface of the earth where the temperatures recorded are as high as 60 degree Celsius and humidity percentages peak up to 100%. The workers demand high wages, the rates exceed even beyond inflation. The world’s largest miner of the ore Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) is recorded to spend $558 an ounce. The Toronto based company does not have operations in South Africa. In the first half of the year, the country’s three biggest gold producers spent almost $1,000 an ounce on an average.
The Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa commented that in the present scenario, for the industry to live on, it should be made sure that these price rises result in an improve in productivity and efficiency. Since 1970, the yearly produce of Gold has been falling, with the maximum effect seen in the last 5 years. After China, Australia, the United States, Russia, Peru, South Africa stands in the sixth position for producing Gold today. The prices of the metal are moving fast towards a maximum yearly drop in the last 16 years. Gold prices have gone down by 21% to $1,327.73 per ounce from the start of the year.
