Two miners boring a hole in the rock for blasting at the Daggafontein Mines, east of Johannesburg, South Africa

Original title reads, "Machine boys drilling hole in quartzite rock 2000 feet down in Daggafontein Mines, Ltd. gold mine. This level is called the Kimberley Reef. The boy working the pneumatic drill is called the 'hammer boy,' he is from Swaziland (all the African workers are called 'boys,' with the African foremen called 'boss boys.'). The helper is called the 'spanner boy,' he is from Nyasaland. They are drilling a hole 42" deep in which will be placed dynamite. The blast will shatter the rock and allow it to be hauled up from the mine, where the gold it contains will be extracted. There is considerable water spray and dust around the drill. the water emerges from the end of the hammer, and serves to wash out the drill cuttings and keep down the dust." [Elisofon field notes, August 1959-December 1959]

This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.