Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Eight of the nine workers who went missing after a rockfall and a fire at Harmony Gold’s Doornkop mine have been found dead.
Rescue teams continued their search on Thursday for the ninth worker, who remained unaccounted for after a 2.4 seismic event on Tuesday triggered a fall-of-ground accident and subsequent fire some 1 733 m underground at the mine west of Johannesburg.
The JSE-listed gold mining major reported on Wednesday that eight workers were rescued from an underground refuge chamber and brought unharmed to the surface.
The specialised rescue teams battled to gain access through the fire – which had started at about 18:00 on February 4 in a stope, adjacent to the 192 level haulage, and had subsided by Wednesday afternoon.
Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu stated that the situation was “deeply regrettable”.
“The health and safety of workers is of paramount importance to us as the regulator of this sector. We must ensure that we do all we can to get to the bottom of what caused this incident to prevent similar occurrences in future,” she said in a statement.
The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) previously noted that it was monitoring the situation, with the department’s chief inspector of mines and a team of health and safety inspectors on site assisting with the search and rescue mission.
The DMR indicated that when the search for the last missing miner was concluded and the fire properly extinguished, it would undertake an in loco inspection and move to establish what caused the accident.
“The results of this inspection will determine what further steps will be taken by the department,” Shabangu added.
The Chamber of Mines said the industry remained committed to working with all stakeholders in ensuring that safety remained a priority at all times and would continue to provide the support required as the sector worked towards its zero harm aims.
"The accident is an unfortunate event considering the good safety performance of the mine over the years," chamber president Mike Teke said, commending the expediency in which Harmony handled the incident.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it would “leave no stone unturned” as it called on the DMR to undertake its investigation into the accident.
"[The incident is] really bad news for us – the NUM, families of the deceased, the DMR and the South African public. We pass our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. One death is one death too many," NUM health and safety secretary Erick Gcilitshana said in a statement.