Free State miner killed at Harmony mine

2012-01-30 14:04

Johannesburg - A miner was killed at Harmony Gold's West shaft next to the Bambanani Mine in the Free State, the company said on Monday.

All operations had been stopped until investigations into the accident, which happened on Sunday, had been completed, the mine said in a statement.

"The accident occurred while scheduled maintenance was performed on the west shaft headgear to enable hoisting of ore from the planned Bambanani and Steyn 2 pillar extractions."

Harmony's CEO Graham Briggs expressed condolences to the miner's family on behalf of his management team.

The mine would not give any further details about the incident.

Last Friday, two miners were killed in a rock fall at the Modikwa Platinum Mine in Burgersfort, Limpopo.

National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said at the weekend it was disappointing that deaths were being recorded so early into the year.

"We are really disappointed that in January we are seeing fatalities [in mines] rising to over ten so far this year. Last year the deaths reached just beyond 120," he said.

- SAPA