The deepest mine in the world is Western Deep Levels gold mine on the Far West Rand, now approaching a depth of 4 kilometres. Mining does not as yet take place at that depth. For every ton of rock mined, nearly 15 tons of ventilation air is pumped underground. The volume of water pumped daily from the mines would fill 3 million domestic bath tubs to the brim. Cooling plants on South African gold mines have a capacity equal to nearly 3.5 million domestic refrigerators.
More steel is poured in an hour than gold has been poured since the beginning of time.
Gold has been used as a currency for over 5000 years. It is estimated that the portion of mineworkers' earnings remitted to Lesotho account for some 60 per cent of that country's Gross Domestic Product. Gold is used in the electronics industry to make more than 10 billion tiny electrical contacts every year. The world's dentists use over 60 tons of gold every year. Gold has medicinal and healing properties - it can be used in treating rheumatoid arthritis, chronic ulcers and tuberculosis.