Former and current mineworkers claim they were exposed to conditions that resulted in them contracting tuberculosis and silicosis.
About half a million miners are expected to benefit from this.
Seven gold mining companies have made provisions in the past year for about 5 billion rand that will go towards establishing a trust fund to pay the affected miners.
The companies involved are Harmony Gold, Gold Fields, African Rainbow Minerals, Sibanye-Stillwater, AngloGold Ashanti and Anglo American, which is no longer producing gold.
Lawyers representing the workers have confirmed the settlement. The gold producers are reported to have set aside the five-billion rand for the compensation earlier.
The Legal Resources Centre and law firms Abrahams Kiewitz Inc and Richard Spoor Attorneys represented the miners. But the settlement would still need approval by the high court before being implemented.
The lawsuit was launched six years ago, and now the miners affected want it to be concluded instead of dragging the matter through the courts for years.
