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South Africa’s gold production fell 6.4 percent in 2010 to 191,833.7 kilograms, the Chamber of Mines said on Monday.

South Africa was
the world’s largest gold producer for most of the last century up until
2006, but output has been hit by dwindling grades and stoppages of
mines and shafts for safety-related reasons as companies mine ever
deeper.

Some South African
gold mines reach depths of around 4 km. The main gold mining firms in
South Africa include the world’s No. 3 and Africa’s top gold producer,
AngloGold Ashanti, fourth-ranked Gold Fields and fifth-placed Harmony
Gold Mining Co.