Work remained suspended on Friday at DRDGold’s North West Operations’ number-two shaft on Friday, a company spokesperson said.
Operations were stopped after an earth tremor earlier this week.
”It is still closed until the safety inspection is completed,” Ilja Graulich said.
Last week, two people died at the company’s Stilfontein mine after an earthquake measuring 5,3 on the Richter scale.
Thirty-eight people were trapped in the mine and 3 000 people underground had to evacuated.
Graulich said that the miners were carrying out normal blasting and drilling operations on Wednesday when the tremor struck.
There were about eight miners in each of the three production panel areas affected and they sustained only ”a couple of scratches” that were dealt with at dressing stations.
The shaft was closed immediately as a safety precaution.
Klerksdorp emergency service’s Mesh Letanta said that they had not even felt Wednesday’s tremor and there were no plans to evacuate people.
Last week’s quake was felt as far afield as Pretoria and caused extensive damage to a number of buildings in the nearby town.
About 40 Stilfontein residents were slightly hurt and 60 left homeless.
The number-five shaft is still closed while the safety inspection there continues.
The company will decide whether to redeploy the miners in the affected sections or to send them on leave. Whether they receive paid leave will depend on the conditions they negotiate, Graulich said.
Counselling services are available for any miner or their families who feel anxious.
The mine’s 30% production drop is covered by insurance, Graulich added.
The company’s North West Operations are at present undergoing an operational review in terms of Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act following recorded losses of more than R270-million in the six months to December 31 2004.
The North West Operations management board is awaiting a report on the effects of the business interruptions caused by the tremors and the sustainability of the operations, and will review the report as a matter of urgency, it said. — Sapa