Almost a third of the 260 underground workers after an accident in a gold mine in South Africa were surfaced on Friday (23), the company said, while the union confirmed that there were no injuries.
The miners were underground after the lifting system used to access a well in the Kloof gold mine-one of the deepest of Sibanye, about 60 km west of Johannesburg-was damaged in an accident on Thursday (22).
Sibanye said 79 of the employees were surfaced in the first phase of an operation to extract the miners.
“The remaining 181 employees have received food and will be lifted to the surface as soon as the safety for lifting is confirmed,” Sibanye told a statement.
A company spokesman told Reuters late Friday afternoon that the process should be completed “soon.”
“Fortunately, there were no dead or injured,” said Duncan Luvuno, president of the Miners National Union (Num). “But for … 24 hours, people haven’t eaten or drink anything. This is not suitable. Some have chronic diseases.”
Journalists were prevented by security guards from approaching the Mine well, but a Reuters reporter saw some of the miners, looking tired, but with good health, walking to the perimeter of the company and boarding buses.
Relatives of those who were still trapped in the mine, however, expressed shock and concern that their loved ones remain underground.
“I didn’t preach my eyes,” said Mamodise Mokone, whose husband was among the miners. “I just want to tell management or anyone in charge: I just want my husband to leave alive.”
after what he called the “well incident” in the Kloof 7 mine and were gathered at a meeting point while the efforts were started to remove them from the mine.
The company, headquartered in Johannesburg, is among the few South African mining companies who profit from some of the deepest and expensive gold mines in the world. Sibanye is extracting gold in depths of about 3,200 meters in the Kloof 7 mine.
The Kloof mine, which accounts for 14% of Sibanye’s total gold production, also operates two other mines. The company also extracts metals from the platinum group in South Africa and the United States.
Mining accidents are not uncommon in South Africa, where many abandoned mines were occupied by informal miners.
Earlier this year, at least 78 bodies were removed from an illegal gold mine after police cut off water and food for months in an attempt to repress illegal mining activity.
