/ 13 May 2018

One of six surviving Sibanye-Stillwater miners discharged

The gold-mining industry caved and reached a settlement in a 12-year case brought by claimants over hazardous work conditions that cause silicosis and silico-tuberculosis.
The gold-mining industry caved and reached a settlement in a 12-year case brought by claimants over hazardous work conditions that cause silicosis and silico-tuberculosis.

One of the six Sibanye-Stillwater employees who survived a deadly seismic incident at the Masakhane mine, Driefontein operations, has been discharged from hospital the company has said.

“Stillwater is pleased to report that one of the six employees who was hospitalised due to the incident, has been discharged and is in good health. The other five rescued employees remain in a stable condition and are making good progress.

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“The company will continue to ensure that these employees receive appropriate medical attention and ongoing support and counselling,” mine spokesperson, James Wellsted, said.

Seven workers were killed during the seismic event which happened on May 3.

Welsted said Stillwater management had been focused over the course of the past week on ensuring the well-being and providing support to the families, friends and colleagues of the deceased and injured employees.

He said there had been a well-attended memorial service at the Driefontein operations on Thursday, with funeral and remembrance services for the deceased employees, scheduled for the coming weekend.

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“Sibanye-Stillwater management will be conducting a thorough investigation across the entire Masakhane mine, in order to assess the impact on the operations, of the numerous seismic events that occurred during the last week,” he said.

Welsted said the underground inspection was expected to take approximately one week, and operations at the Masakhane mine would remain suspended during this period.

He said production from the rest of the mines making up the Driefontein operations would continue as normal.

He said the Masakhane mine made up roughly 20% or 11kg of the Driefontein operations production, per day.

“Since the incident occurred, approximately 230kg of planned gold production is estimated to have been lost,” he said. — News24