Committee members spoke to some illegal miners and saw then coming up from underground with bags of ore, hammers, chisels and head-torches. They were shown how the ore is crushed by hand and then washed out on James tables constructed by the illegal miners. Many miners ran away when the Committee (and the police, emergency services, DMR and CGS) approached them. The Committee saw stockpiles of ore in bags piled up just off Main Reef Road, waiting for collection by bakkie. The scale of the illegal mining is evident right along the reef. The freshly dug holes - many substantial excavations - go steep and deep into the earth, posing an immediate threat to communities in these heavily populated areas.