Miner dead in Harmony rockfall
One miner has died and another was injured following an underground accident at Harmony Gold’s Elandsrand mine on Friday, the company said.
“He succumbed to his injuries after he was trapped underground for four hours. His body was discovered in the afternoon,” said chief operating officer Alwyn Pretorius.
The miner was Algar Guy (35).
Acting CEO Graham Briggs said a fall of ground occurred on level 100. “One person was injured, with a suspected fractured leg, and he has subsequently been removed from the mine and taken to hospital.”
Briggs said 20 mining crew members were safely brought out of the mine with no further injuries reported.
Harmony shut the Elandsrand mine on October 3 after a shaft used for transporting workers was damaged in an accident, trapping 3 200 miners 2,2km underground for more than 24 hours.
An official at Harmony said the mine had not been shut again after Friday’s accident, which took place about 3km underground at about 10.30am.
Pretorius said earlier on Friday that the mine, near Johannesburg, which had started production in about 60% of its mining area, would have to be checked again for safety before further mining could go on.
The mine is one of Harmony’s biggest, producing 51 666 ounces of gold during the quarter to the end of June, nearly one-10th of the firm’s total output during that period.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has said it plans to ask its members to down tools on December 4 to protest against a spate of deaths in the country’s mines, but is still awaiting a permit to strike. More than 180 workers have died in mine accidents this year, compared with about 200 last year.—Sapa, Reuters
