Gangs Live Underground for Months to Feed Illegal Gold Trade
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Hein Westraadt, a security manager at South Africa’s largest gold producer, was finishing up some paperwork when a colleague rushed to his desk with a tip-off.
Thirty-three illegal miners had smuggled themselves into one of Sibanye Gold Ltd.’s biggest mines, and had been stealing ore undetected for three months, while living more than a mile underground.