# South Africa’s chrome riches fuel a deadly underground economy

https://mins.news/en/item/47122

- Al Jazeera, 2026-09-06 04:31 UTC
- Society
- Original: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/6/south-africas-chrome-riches-fuel-a-deadly-underground-economy?traffic_source=rss

> A soil wall collapsed at a disused mine near Rustenburg on August 13, killing 14 miners, most believed to be undocumented migrants. The disaster exposed an illegal chrome-mining economy involving vulnerable migrants, unemployed former mineworkers and criminal networks, while workers face unsafe shafts and take the greatest risks.