SA massive R650 million heist remains one of the largest gold robberies of all time

500 kgs of gold was looted with an astounding estimated value of R652,801,141 at the Sibanye Gold mine in 2014

500 kgs of gold was looted with an astounding estimated value of R652,801,141 at the Sibanye Gold mine in 2014

Published Aug 23, 2024

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Gold heists are a thing of legend. But, they are very real outside of old ‘wild west’ movies.

Experts at The Gold Bullion Company investigated the estimated worth of loot seized from the world’s largest gold heists to identify the most expensive ones, including South Africa's own historic mine robbery.

Ten years on the Sibanye Gold Mine ‘job’ takes the spot of the fifth most costly heist of all time. According to the experts, 500 kgs of gold was looted with an astounding estimated value of R652,801,141.

“Twenty gold miners were arrested for stealing over 500 kg of ‘gold concentrate’ from Johannesburg-based Sibanye-Stillwater. The miners secretly filled hidden sacks sewn into their overalls during their shifts,” said Rick Kanda, managing director of The Gold Bullion Company.

Here is the full list of the costliest gold heists in history:
Gold heistYearAmount stolen (kgs)Current value (estimated)
British Bank of the Middle East heist197612,000R15,665,916,391
The Brinks Mat Gold heist19833,000R3,917,622,814
Guarulhos Airport robbery2019748R977,195,719
The Golden Door Jewellery Creations theft1983736R960,948,183
The Sibanye Gold Mine job2014500R652,801,141
The Toronto Pearson Airport heist2023400R522,326,523
Australian Safe Cracking heist1995285R372,050,338
The Summer Bliss robbery2012216R281,975,005
The Great Gold robbery185591R118,752,830
Singapore Brinks robbery201270R91,354,996

Kanda gave the following tips for those with gold assets to avoid robberies:

Home storage

If you simply have a little amount of precious metals, home storage may be the ideal solution for keeping your gold and silver safe.

You should consider placing your metals in a high-quality safe for added security. The safe should be concealed in walls or floors and bolted down.

Ideally, the safe should be fireproof and waterproof to protect your bullion from unintentional harm.

Safety deposit boxes

Renting a safety deposit box at a bank is more secure than storing it at home since institutions have high-level security measures in place such as high-tech surveillance and regulated access.

Many banks are also insured, allowing you to recover the value of your precious metals if anything happens to them. For a price, you’ll receive the lone key to a box to store your gold and silver.

Storage vaults

A specialist storage vault is the most secure choice for protecting your gold and silver. These vaults are designed to protect massive amounts of precious metals with superior security features.

They are also climatic and temperature-controlled to keep your precious metals from deteriorating.

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