AngloGold Ashanti, the world’s number-three gold producer, said on Friday it had closed part of its Savuka gold-mining operation after a worker was killed in an accident.
AngloGold spokesperson Joanne Jones said the Department of Minerals and Energy was carrying out an investigation into the cause of the accident.
”We’ve stopped operations in the area where the accident took place,” she told Reuters. It was not immediately clear how much output would be lost owing to the closure.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) also said three other workers had been killed in at DRDGold’s East Rand Proprietary Mine (EPRM).
James Duncan, DRDGold’s spokesperson, said he could not immediately comment on the incident, or say whether the mine had been shut.
South Africa is the world’s top source of platinum and a major gold producer but has a bad mining safety record. So far, about 125 workers have died in various incidents in mines across the country, angering unions and disrupting mine output.
The NUM has called on members to stay away from work for one day each time a worker is killed for a day of mourning.
”There are going to be days of mourning, but they will be announced in due course,” NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka told Reuters. — Reuters