Mining Series 5 - "Great Lion" Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Knagur Green: Due to no response from the CO after the request to maintain or replace the cache, I am archiving it to, stop it showing on the listings and/or to create place for the geocaching community.

The Geocache Maintenance guideline explains a CO's responsibility towards checking and maintaining the cache when problems are reported. Caches that have been archived for lack of maintenance will not be unarchived. This is explained in the Help Center

If you feel that this cache has been archived in error please feel free to contact me via email quoting the GC number concerned

Thank you for understanding

Knagur Green
Groundspeak Volunteer Reviewer

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Hidden : 12/23/2008
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

The 5th in our Mining Series. Placed on the property of a mine whose name now means "Great Lion" in Setswana

I have always known this mine by a different name. If the old name was translated directly to French it roughly would be "Occidental Profondément Niveaux" to "Portuguese Ocidental Profundamente Níveis". Closet I could get......

The cache is a small container containing a log sheet and can take a few small tradeables. Please bring along a pencil.

Parking @ additional way point is highly recommended. Enjoy the cache

The mines name means "great lion" in Setswana and is currently the world’s deepest mining operation at some 3.9 kilometers deep.

The mine is one of the three Western Deep Levels mines of the West Wits gold field west of Johannesburg. The mine is near the town of Carletonville. TauTona neighbours the Mponeng and Savuka mines, and TauTona and Savuka share processing facilities. All three are owned by AngloGold Ashanti. The mine was originally built by the Anglo American Corporation with its 2 km (1.2 mi) deep main shaft being sunk in 1957. The name TauTona means "great lion" in the Setswana language. The mine began operation in 1962. It is one of the most efficient mines in South Africa and remains in continuous operation even during periods when the price of gold is low. Since its construction two secondary shafts have been added bringing the mine to its current depth. The mine today has some 800 km (500 mi) of tunnels and employs some 5,600 miners. The mine is a dangerous place to work and an average of five miners die in accidents each year. The mine is so deep that temperatures in the mine can rise to life-threatening levels. Air conditioning equipment is used to cool the mine from 55 °C (131 °F) down to a more tolerable 28 °C (82 °F). The rock face temperature currently reaches 60 °C (140 °F).

By 2008, the mine reached some 3.9 km (2.4 mi) underground. This made it the deepest mine in the world, surpassing the 3.5 km (2.2 mi) deep East Rand Mine by a considerable margin. This new shaft extended the depth from its previous 3.6 km (2.2 mi), and will extend the mine's life to 2015.

The journey to the rock face can take 1 hour from surface level. The lift cage that transports the workers from the surface to the bottom travels at 16 metres per second (58 km/h).

The mine has also been featured on the MegaStructures program produced by the National Geographic Channel.

In the 2008 financial year, four employees were killed at the TauTona mine, out of seven fatal accidents that occurred at AngloGold Ashanti's West Wits operations and 14 fatalities overall in the year. The safety record of the mine improved in 2009, when it only recorded one fatality.

The mine has also been featured on the MegaStructures programme produced by National Geographic.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

1. GnhGban = "terng yvba" 2. Gur Neebj znexf gur fcbg

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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