A miner was found dead underground at AngloGold Ashanti’s Moab Khotsong mine, near Orkney, at 2am on Sunday morning, said the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
The body of a second miner had been located underground at 9am and rescue workers were in the process of recovering it, added AngloGold Ashanti spokesperson Steve Lenahan.
A third miner rescued immediately after the fall sustained minor injuries and was in a stable condition in hospital, he said.
The men were trapped in a fall of ground 3 000m underground in Shaft 11 at 4.40am on Friday. The fall was caused by a seismic event, said Lenahan.
He said there could be up to 100 seismic events a day on the mines. While the 0,7 magnitude of the event on Friday would not ordinarily have been significant, it was because of where it happened in relation to mining activity.
”In this case, it was significant enough to cause a fall of ground,” he said.
Rescue operations were hampered by difficult ground conditions in the area of the incident.
Lenahan said the names and personal details of the miners would not be released until contact had been made with their next-of-kin. – Sapa