The Orkney Operations are situated in the North West Province, South Africa, some 175km south-west of Johannesburg. Located at approximately latitude 26°30’S and longitude 26°45’E, the site can be accessed via the N12 national highway between Johannesburg and Kimberley.

Locality plans for the Mining Assets comprising the Orkney Operations are included in Figure 44. Orkney Operations currently operate under a mining authorisation, covering a total area of 9,317Ha.

An efficient network of all weather roads operates in the mine area, with the N12 and N14 arterial roads meeting at Klerksdorp. The R30 and R502 link the mine to Klerksdorp and Potchofstroom. Rail and bus services link Klerksdorp to other centres throughout the North West Province. There is good all weather road access to the mine.

The towns of Orkney and Klerksdorp are the regional centres providing infrastructural support to mining, agriculture and manufacturing industries. The different types of local infrastructure include:

• Roads and transport infrastructure, such as rails and airports;
• Water and sanitation infrastructure;
• Telecommunication infrastructure, such as masts and pylons;
• Electricity provision infrastructure, such as power stations, sub-stations, pylons and cables;
• Housing, and
• Waste removal and recycling infrastructure, such as refuse removal, pipelines, sewage plants and water purification plants.

There is a ready pool of labour in the Klerksdorp area, much of which has previous experience in the mining sector.

The climate is typical of the Highveld of South Africa, with warm to hot summers and cool to cold winters. Summer temperatures range between 22°C and 34°C (71.6°F and 93.2°F) and winter is characterised by dry, sunny days and cool nights. The average winter (May – July) temperature is 15.5°C (60°F). The climate of the area will not cause any disruption to the operating season of the mine.

The topography of the area is generally flat lying with undulating hills. . The mine occurs in a relatively flat lying area, with an elevation between 1,300mamsl and 1,350mamsl. The North West Province is the watershed for the headwaters of the Limpopo River (including the Groot Marico River, which flows east to the Indian Ocean) and several tributaries of the Orange – Vaal River system, such as the Molopo River, which flow west towards the Atlantic Ocean. The North West Province is fortunate to have large groundwater reserves.

Exploration, development and production in the area date back to 1886 and, following dormant periods, large-scale production commenced during the 1940s, with the formation of Vaal Reefs Gold Mining and Exploration Company Limited (“Vaal Reefs”) in 1944.

Between 1992 and 1998, seven shafts were operated by Shaft Sinkers and the rest by Vaal Reefs. The six shafts at Orkney were then acquired by ARMgold in January 1998 and a seventh in July 2001.

On 22 September 2003, Harmony and ARMgold completed a merger that resulted in ARMgold becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harmony. Table 45 below details the historic production since 2003: