The Sibanye-Stillwater gold mining company said on Friday that about a third of the miners trapped underground in a shaft near Johannesburg, South Africa, have been rescued, but over 180 remain in the mine after its hoist system was damaged in an accident.
The “shaft incident” took place on Thursday in the Kloof gold mine, one of Sibanye-Stillwater’s deepest digs. The mine is located about 37 miles west of Johannesburg. The Kloof Number 7 shaft, where the incident occurred, is roughly two miles deep and provides 14 percent of the company’s current output.
Details of the accident were sketchy but, according to the South African National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), something went wrong with the hoist at around 10:00 p.m. local time. A preliminary investigation found that a “sub-shaft rock winder skip door” unexpectedly popped open, causing damage to the shaft and prompting mine officials to declare it unsafe for human transit.
“Skip mining” means using smaller elevators to bring ore to the surface and dump it into collection bins, rather than using “car and cage” elevators large enough to haul loaded mine carts all the way to the top of the shaft. The preliminary investigation suggested the door of a hoist car opened while it was in motion, perhaps dislodging some rock and prompting a careful inspection before it was deemed safe to use the hoist system again.
Sibanye-Stillwater representatives initially said 289 miners were stuck at the bottom of the shaft, but later revised the estimate down to 260. The company disputed descriptions of the miners as “trapped,” saying they could have undertaken a long walk back up to the surface, but it was deemed safer for them to wait until the hoist system was repaired.
“Following a detailed risk assessment, it was decided that employees should remain at the sub-shaft station until it is safe to proceed to the surface, in order to avoid walking long distances at this time. It is estimated that all affected employees will be brought to surface around midday today,” the company said Friday.
“We are actively implementing our safety and shaft examination procedures. Once these are completed, we will begin hoisting employees to surface. All 260 employees have been accounted for, are safe and have been provided with food,” the statement said.
The NUM was not pleased with Sibanye-Stillwater’s chipper assessment of the situation, criticizing the company for attempting to keep the entire incident under wraps and keeping workers stranded in the depths for almost 24 hours.
“We are very concerned because the mine did not even make this incident public until we reported it to the media,” NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said.
On Friday afternoon, Sibanye-Stillwater said 79 of the miners had been brought to the surface. The company said none of the remaining miners were injured, but their anxious relatives said they did not understand why the others were being left underground for so long.
“I just want to tell the management or whoever is in charge – I just want my husband out alive!” one of the women gathered outside the mine “screamed at the top of her voice,” according to Reuters.
Reuters reported journalists were “barred by security guards from getting near the site,” but they were able to catch a glimpse of rescued miners climbing aboard buses, “looking tired but in good health.”
“Fortunately, there were no fatalities or injuries,” said NUM Health and Safety Chairperson Duncan Luvuno.
“For 24 hours, people were not eating or drinking anything. This is not adequate. Some have chronic diseases,” he added.
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