The Chamber of Mines of South Africa is a prominent industry employers' organisation which exists to serve its members and promote their interests in the South African mining industry. It does this through a variety of activities and programmes undertaken in areas where it is deemed desirable for members to consult with one another on matters of common concern or to co-operate in specific industry-level policy responses and joint initiatives.

With this scope defining its role, the Chamber exists as an important strategic partner to its member mines. In recent years the Chamber's role and functions have undergone substantial change in view of developments unfolding in the external environment. This redirection of the organisation has been undertaken with a view to: 

• refocusing the Chamber to position it as the principal advocate to government of major policy positions endorsed by mining employers
• ending the Chamber's direct involvement in (and financial subsidisation of) various industry services
• expanding the membership base of the organisation.

Consequently, the Chamber exists today primarily to provide strategic support and advisory input to its members. It facilitates interaction among mine employers to examine policy issues and other matters of mutual concern to define desirable industry-level stances. Consultation and co-operation within the Chamber system occur on a voluntary basis and do not encroach on the managerial powers or prerogatives of individual member mines and mining groups.

A key activity is the Chamber's representation of the formalised policy position of its membership to various organs of South Africa's national and provincial governments, and to other relevant policy-making and opinion forming entities inside the country, and internationally.

A range of professional resources is maintained to support the Chamber's policy review and advocacy functions and to equip it to render advice to its members, these include mining health and safety, education and training, communication, environmental management, economics and industrial relations.

Chamber influence over member affairs is, however, regulated by an approach to industry policy direction and formulation that is founded on the striking of consensus among members, all of whom associate within the Chamber system on a voluntary basis. Consensus is defined via the deliberations of a number of Chamber principal committees, headed by an Executive Council.

The first Chamber of Mines was formed on 7 December 1887 in the Central Hotel in Johannesburg and was succeeded by the modern Chamber on 5 October 1889.

On that day, the first meeting of members of the modern Chamber was held and was attended by representatives of the following mines: Aurora, Balmoral, City and Suburban, Crown Reef, Driefontein, Eclipse, Geldenhuis Estate, George Goch, Langlaagte Block B, Langlaagte Estate, Langlaagte Western, Luipaard's Vlei, Nigel, Odessa, Randfontein, Riet Vlei, Robinson, Stanhope Geldenhuis, Transvaal Montana, White Reef and Witwatersrand.

The Chamber of Mines was established to disseminate authoritative statistical information about the Transvaal Gold Fields Limited and to validate prospectuses.

Other objectives included: the promotion and protection of mining interests; the promotion of public discussion on mining industry issues; the promotion of favourable legislative measures; and the exchange of information with other public and private mining bodies within and outside of South Africa.

1960 - 1961 C B Anderson
1961 - 1962 H C Koch
1962 - 1963 P H Anderson
1963 - 1964 A A von Maltitz
1964 - 1965 C B Anderson
1965 - 1966 H C Koch
1966 -1967 R S Cooke
1967 - 1968 T Reekie
1968 - 1969 Dr T F Muller
1969 -1970 R S Cooke
1970 - 1971 Dr A A von Maltitz
1971 - 1972 J W Shilling
1972 - 1973 R C J Goode
1973 - 1974 R A Plumbridge
1974 - 1975 A W S Schumann
1975 - 1976 R S Lawrence
1976 - 1977 R A Plumbridge
1977 - 1978 L W P van den Bosch
1978 - 1979 P A von Wielligh
1979 - 1980 D A Etheredge
1980 - 1981 R S Lawrence
1981 - 1982 L W P van den Bosch
1982 - 1983 W W Malan
1983 - 1984 C T Fenton
1984 - 1985 G Y Nisbet
1985 -1986 G Y Knobbs
1986 - 1987 E P Gush
1987 - 1988 T I Steenkamp
1988 -1989 C T Fenton
1989 - 1990 K W Maxwell
1990 - 1991 C G Knobbs
1991 - 1992 T I Steenkamp
1992 -1993 R M Godsell
1993 - 1994 J J Geldenhuys
1994 - 1995 A H Munro
1995 - 1996 A J du Plessis
1996 - 1997 Dr N S Segal
1997 - 1999 R M Godsell
1999 - 2001 R P Menell
2001 - 2003 B E Davison
2003 - 2005 C Fauconnier
2005 - 2007 L Zim
2007 - 2008 S Nkosi

• The Corner House (later Rand Mines and now Randgold and Exploration Limited) representing Wernher, Beit, London and led by H Eckstein and JB Taylor
• Consolidated Gold Fields (later Gold Fields Limited) led by Cecil Rhodes
• The Robinson Group led by JB Robinson
• Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company (now JCI Limited) led by Barney Barnato

The Chamber of Mines has undergone a number of name changes in its history which coincide with mining and political developments in South Africa. The Chamber of Mines' predecessor was formed in 1887 - one year after an Australian gold-digger, George Harrison, discovered gold on the farm Langlaagte - and was named the Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg. The name changes and the applicable periods are as follows:

• Witwatersrand Chamber of Mines: 1889-1896
• Chamber of Mines of the South African Republic: 1897-1901
• Transvaal Chamber of Mines: 1902-1952
• Transvaal and Orange Free State Chamber of Mines: 1953-1967
• Chamber of Mines of South Africa: 1968-

John Lang published a book in the centenary year of the Chamber of Mines entitled: Bullion Johannesburg: Men, Mines and the Challenge of Conflict (Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg, 1986). He was also commissioned to write a history of the coal mining industry which was published in 1995 and entitled: Power Base: Coal Mining in the Life of South Africa (Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg, 1995).

Bullion Johannesburg, named after the telegraphic address of the Chamber of Mines, tells the story of the Chamber from its foundation soon after the proclamation of the Rand gold-fields in 1886, up to the year of its centenary. The book gives the first full account of the genesis of the Chamber. It discusses the involvement of mining personalities in the conspiracy that led to the Jameson Raid and the Johannesburg Rising of 1895, and analyses the events that followed, leading to war between the Transvaal and Britain.

Bullion Johannesburg covers the reconstruction after the war, and the relationship between the Chamber and the Milner Administration. The book examines the interlude in which 50 000 labourers from China filled gaps in the black labour force, and describes the political storms that led to their repatriation.

John Lang brings his story up to the present, illuminating the technological and social advances that took place. He describes the confidential background to the gold crises of the 60s, when the Chamber in its most secret councilís faced the prospect that the Unites States was prepared to force down the gold price below the $35 which had reigned since 1934.

In a foreword, Professor Burridge Spies, Professor of History at the University of South Africa, comments that the author has not avoided controversy, but has sought to balance the Chamber's role against other forces, telling his story against the background of the political, social and economic framework of the last 100 years. He writes, "This is no dull institutional history. Many remarkable, colourful personalities, who have been prominent in the mining world and who have helped shape the developments of their time, are vividly portrayed."