I took this shot of the Matla Power Station just after sunset when we were camped at Trichardt, about 80 miles east-southeast of Johannesburg along the N17.
The power station is about 15 miles away. It's huge! Construction of this coal fired station was started in 1974 with the last unit commissioned in 1983, four years before I made this image.
The orange sky here is natural, not due to a filter. The sun has dipped below the horizon and its light is being scattered by the winter haze.
About ten miles to the west of Trichardt is the Kinross Gold Mine where 177 miners died in South Africa's worst mining disaster on September 16, 1986 when a welder working underground accidentally sparked a fire in a wall covering foam used to control water seepage. The fumes from the burning foam were highly toxic and most were overcome by fumes and died where they stood.
it has not been maintained in over seven years which makes me think it's just self-serving exercise rather than a front-and-center commitment.
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