Fatal quake rocks Sibanye-Stillwater’s Driefontein mine
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has called for a team of experts to be formed to help the industry prepare better for seismic events
Four miners died and another six were injured during an earthquake 3km underground at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Driefontein mine on Thursday afternoon. Three more miners are missing and rescue teams can see one of them trapped under fallen rock. The number of fatalities on SA’s mines increased to 88 last year – the first rise in a decade – compared with the 73 deaths recorded in 2017. By the end of March, the death toll stood at 22. According to the Department of Mineral Resources, 11,000 mineworkers were killed between 1984 and 2005, averaging 550 a year. SA has the world’s deepest mines. "The gold sector has seen an increase in fatalities this year, with Sibanye-Stilwater as one of the main contributors," Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said on Friday. "This suggests that greater attention be paid to issues of safety, particularly the protection of the lives of workers, as opposed to the insistence of chasing production." With seismic events accounting for about a third of fa...
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