At 22:00 on the second Sunday in December, a criminal platoon armed with AK-47 and R6 assault rifles stormed one of the largest gold mines still operating on South Africa’s fabled Witwatersrand basin. Moving with military precision, the 15 attackers took hostages and plundered the smelting plant at Gold Fields’ South Deep mine. While failing to break into the main vault, the gang escaped three hours later with gold concentrate worth as much as $500 000.
