South African mine company 'finds rich seam of gold'

The era of big gold discoveries is thought to be long gone in South Africa as mining companies are finding it harder and more expensive to mine the precious metal in the country’s old and exceedingly deep gold mines.

However, in the old mining town of Barberton, local company Pan African Resources has found a rich vein of gold, so rich that it says it can be seen with the naked eye.

It says that the amount of gold in the rock is many times what is normally found.

Marlina Elberg, a geologist at the University of Johannesburg, said the find was indeed impressive but she was wary of taking accounts of “visible gold” at face value.

"It is unusual to still find gold that is visible to the naked eye - you should not believe that everything that is shown in the pictures on the website is gold," she told the BBC.

"Since it typically occurs together with sulphides, which are also yellowish in colour, that is why pyrite is commonly called fool's gold,” she cautioned.

The discovery at the New Consort Mine coincides with a 19% surge in the price of the gold this year.

At over $1,800 (£1,400) an ounce, gold is at its highest level in nearly a decade as the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed investors to long established safe havens such as bullion.

However, South Africa’s mining industry has been hit hard by lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19. Output is set to be reduced by up to 25% this year and this could put tens of thousands of jobs on the line.