A Mile Below Ground Is the Dangerous World of Precious Metals

At Sibanye Gold Ltd.’s Khuseleka mine, sunrise calls thousands of workers to journey 1.4 miles below the surface of Rustenburg, South Africa. They will spend the day drilling through tons of rock for the slivers of platinum, palladium and rhodium needed by automakers and other companies worldwide.

What the miners extract soon becomes part of the financial markets’ calculation of global commodity prices and stock movements. Their work has consequences beyond finance—the metals they produce are used in devices that curb vehicle emissions to reduce pollution.