California was once a great gold-mining area, but today the largest gold- producing region on earth is in South Africa, near the city of Johannesburg.
This area now produces about half of the world’s supply of gold, and production in some years has been over 1,000 tons!
The largest single group of mines in South Africa, called the East Rand Mines, covers an area of 12,000 acres. The largest mine in this group has tunnels that stretch for more than 2,500 miles!
