Free State Goldfields Collapse

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute analyzes the collapse of gold mining in the Free State Goldfields of South Africa to derive lessons for current and future decarbonization transitions in regional economies.

• Large-scale gold extraction began in the Free State Goldfields (FSG) after World War II, leading to the development of Welkom as the second-largest urban area in the Free State province.
• The gold mining boom ended in 1989 due to a sharp drop in gold prices from approximately US$900 per ounce to US$300, which, combined with ageing infrastructure and the exhaustion of accessible deposits, rendered many mines uneconomic.
• The collapse of the FSG mining operations demonstrates the significant economic, social, and environmental impacts of rapid mining decline in dependent areas, emphasizing the need for transition measures to address these consequences.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2021). Free State Goldfields Collapse. https://www.sei.org/publications/free-state-goldfields-collapse/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Free State Goldfields Collapse. 2021. https://www.sei.org/publications/free-state-goldfields-collapse/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Free State Goldfields Collapse |date=9 June 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/free-state-goldfields-collapse/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2021free, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Free State Goldfields Collapse}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/free-state-goldfields-collapse/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }