Home / Series / Megastructures / Aired Order / Season 2005 / Episode 5

Tau Tona - City Of Gold

Located near Johannesburg, South Africa, the Tau Tona is a gold mine. The Tau Tona is the main economic life blood of Johannesburg, supplying half the world’s gold needs. It is the deepest and largest working mine in the world. Its main shaft is 3.6 km deep and consists of 800 km of tunneling. This episode gives viewers a tour of the dynamic systems involved in maintaining a working environment deep in the earth. It also provides a glimpse of what life as a mine worker is like in Tau Tona. Risking heat exhaustion, and with 10 earthquakes a day, the miners work through narrow tunnels to extract gold from a 25 cm thick gold vein.

Deutsch English français Magyar русский язык
  • Originally Aired May 27, 2005
  • Runtime 60 minutes
  • Content Rating United States of America TV-G
  • Network National Geographic
  • Created November 6, 2015 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified November 6, 2015 by
    Administrator admin
Name Type Role
Lynn Child Writer