The 10 Deepest Mines on Earth
Below about 3 kilometers, mining stops being an excavation problem and becomes a physics problem: rock hot enough to burn skin, pressures that make solid stone explode off the walls, and elevator rides longer than commuter flights. Here's how deep the industry has actually gone — depths approximate as workings advance.
| # | Mine | Approx. depth |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mponeng — South Africa (gold) | ~4.0 km |
| 2 | TauTona — South Africa (gold) | ~3.9 km |
| 3 | Savuka — South Africa (gold) | ~3.7 km |
| 4 | Driefontein — South Africa (gold) | ~3.4 km |
| 5 | Kusasalethu — South Africa (gold) | ~3.3 km |
| 6 | LaRonde — Canada (gold) | ~3.1 km |
| 7 | Moab Khotsong — South Africa (gold) | ~3.1 km |
| 8 | Kidd Creek — Canada (Cu-Zn) | ~3.0 km |
| 9 | South Deep — South Africa (gold) | ~3.0 km |
| 10 | Creighton — Canada (nickel) | ~2.5 km |
The rundown
Mponeng — South Africa (gold)
~4.0 kmThe deepest human workings on the planet. Virgin rock pushes 60°C; the mine pumps ice slurry underground and manages rockbursts strong enough to register as earthquakes.
WIKI →▶︎ YOUTUBETauTona — South Africa (gold)
~3.9 kmMponeng's neighbor held the depth crown for years before closing in 2017 — the tunnels remain, a monument at the edge of the possible.
WIKI →▶︎ YOUTUBESavuka — South Africa (gold)
~3.7 kmThird leg of the ultra-deep trio. At these depths the geothermal gradient means every meter down costs real refrigeration money.
WIKI →▶︎ YOUTUBEDriefontein — South Africa (gold)
~3.4 kmA Witwatersrand institution mining reef seams thinner than a doorway, kilometers below the veld.
WIKI →▶︎ YOUTUBEKusasalethu — South Africa (gold)
~3.3 kmTwin-shaft, sub-shaft systems — no single hoist rope practically serves these depths, so mines stack shafts like rocket stages.
WIKI →▶︎ YOUTUBELaRonde — Canada (gold)
~3.1 kmAgnico Eagle's Quebec flagship: the deepest mine in the Americas, with a shaft system that is an engineering landmark on its own.
WIKI →▶︎ YOUTUBEMoab Khotsong — South Africa (gold)
~3.1 kmHome to some of the deepest single-lift shafts ever sunk, with skips falling free for kilometers.
WIKI →▶︎ YOUTUBEKidd Creek — Canada (Cu-Zn)
~3.0 kmThe deepest base-metal mine on Earth, carved into the Canadian Shield near Timmins since 1966.
WIKI →▶︎ YOUTUBESouth Deep — South Africa (gold)
~3.0 kmA fully mechanized ultra-deep — proof that trackless equipment, not just human muscle, can work down here.
WIKI →▶︎ YOUTUBECreighton — Canada (nickel)
~2.5 kmSudbury's veteran, mining a 1.85-billion-year-old meteorite crater — and hosting SNOLAB, the physics lab that borrowed the mine's depth to hunt neutrinos.
WIKI →▶︎ YOUTUBENotice the pattern: eight of ten chase gold, because only gold's price-per-ton justifies fighting 60-degree rock. If you want to know what a commodity is really worth, check how deep somebody will go to get it.
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Figures are approximate, compiled from public sources as of mid-2026, and rounded for readability. Rankings shift with markets, mergers, and new discoveries. Nothing here is investment, legal, or engineering advice for a specific site — for that, hire an engineer. We know one.