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Arab News
24-05-2025
- General
- Arab News
South Africa rescues all 260 miners stuck underground alive
WESTONARIA, South Africa: Rescuers on Friday pulled out all 260 mine workers who had been stuck for more than 24 hours in an underground shaft in South Africa, the mine's operator said. The miners were trapped underground on Thursday at the Kloof gold mine, 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Johannesburg, after a hoist used to access the shaft was damaged in an accident, the mining company Sibanye-Stillwater said. The first phase of the rescue brought 79 people to the surface by 1:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) while the rest were rescued six hours later, it said in a statement. 'At no point was there any risk of injury to employees during the incident,' it said. A decision had been made against using the emergency escape routes which would have involved the miners walking longer distances, it added. The gold mine is one of the deepest operated by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company. Desperate relatives of the miners waited outside the site during the rescue efforts, most of them expressing shock at the incident, local television footage showed. 'All affected employees will also undergo thorough medical examinations, if required, while support has also been extended to employees' families,' the mining company said. The National Union of Mineworkers said the incident happened around 10:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Thursday. It expressed concern for the miners who had been 'underground for almost 20 hours.' Sibanye-Stillwater had said earlier that the miners would be brought to the surface around midday Friday. 'The employees are not trapped; it was decided to keep them at the sub-shaft station for now,' spokesperson Henrika Ninham said. Mining employs hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa, which is the biggest exporter of platinum and a major exporter of gold, diamonds, coal and other raw materials. But accidents are common. Dozens of mineworkers are killed each year, though the numbers have been falling as safety standards have been stepped up over the past two decades. According to industry group Minerals Council South Africa, 42 miners died in 2024, compared to 55 the previous year. Sibanye-Stillwater chief executive Neal Froneman said Friday they would not resume operations 'until we are confident that all the necessary remedial actions have been implemented.'
Malay Mail
24-05-2025
- General
- Malay Mail
South Africa rescues all 260 miners stuck underground alive
WESTONARIA (South Africa), May 24 — Rescuers yesterday pulled out all 260 mine workers who had been stuck for more than 24 hours in an underground shaft in South Africa, the mine's operator said. The miners were trapped underground on Thursday at the Kloof gold mine, 60 kilometres west of Johannesburg, after a hoist used to access the shaft was damaged in an accident, the mining company Sibanye-Stillwater said. The first phase of the rescue brought 79 people to the surface by 1:30 pm (1130 GMT) while the rest were rescued six hours later, it said in a statement. 'At no point was there any risk of injury to employees during the incident,' it said. A decision had been made against using the emergency escape routes which would have involved the miners walking longer distances, it added. The gold mine is one of the deepest operated by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company. Desperate relatives of the miners waited outside the site during the rescue efforts, most of them expressing shock at the incident, local television footage showed. 'All affected employees will also undergo thorough medical examinations, if required, while support has also been extended to employees' families,' the mining company said. The National Union of Mineworkers said the incident happened around 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Thursday. It expressed concern for the miners who had been 'underground for almost 20 hours'. Sibanye-Stillwater had said earlier that the miners would be brought to the surface around midday Friday. 'The employees are not trapped; it was decided to keep them at the sub-shaft station for now,' spokesperson Henrika Ninham said. Mining employs hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa, which is the biggest exporter of platinum and a major exporter of gold, diamonds, coal and other raw materials. But accidents are common. Dozens of mineworkers are killed each year, though the numbers have been falling as safety standards have been stepped up over the past two decades. According to industry group Minerals Council South Africa, 42 miners died in 2024, compared to 55 the previous year. Sibanye-Stillwater chief executive Neal Froneman said Friday they would not resume operations 'until we are confident that all the necessary remedial actions have been implemented'. — AFP
Free Malaysia Today
24-05-2025
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
South Africa rescues all 260 miners stuck underground
Mining employs hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa but accidents are common. (EPA Images pic) WESTONARIA : Rescuers yesterday pulled out all 260 mine workers who had been stuck for more than 24 hours in an underground shaft in South Africa, the mine's operator said. The miners were trapped underground on Thursday at the Kloof gold mine, 60km west of Johannesburg, after a hoist used to access the shaft was damaged in an accident, the mining company Sibanye-Stillwater said. The first phase of the rescue brought 79 people to the surface by 1.30pm while the rest were rescued six hours later, it said in a statement. 'At no point was there any risk of injury to employees during the incident,' it said. A decision had been made against using the emergency escape routes which would have involved the miners walking longer distances, it added. The gold mine is one of the deepest operated by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company. Desperate relatives of the miners waited outside the site during the rescue efforts, most of them expressing shock at the incident, local television footage showed. 'All affected employees will also undergo thorough medical examinations, if required, while support has also been extended to employees' families,' the mining company said. The National Union of Mineworkers said the incident happened around 10am on Thursday. It expressed concern for the miners who had been 'underground for almost 20 hours'. Sibanye-Stillwater had said earlier that the miners would be brought to the surface around midday yesterday. 'The employees are not trapped; it was decided to keep them at the sub-shaft station for now,' spokesman Henrika Ninham said. Mining employs hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa, which is the biggest exporter of platinum and a major exporter of gold, diamonds, coal and other raw materials. But accidents are common. Dozens of mine workers are killed each year, though the numbers have been falling as safety standards have been stepped up over the past two decades. According to industry group Minerals Council South Africa, 42 miners died in 2024, compared to 55 the previous year. Sibanye-Stillwater chief executive Neal Froneman said yesterday they would not resume operations 'until we are confident that all the necessary remedial actions have been implemented'.
Zawya
23-05-2025
- Zawya
Sibanye says 289 workers trapped in South African gold mine
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's Sibanye Stillwater said on Friday that efforts were under way to rescue 289 mine workers trapped underground at one of its shafts at the Kloof gold mine near Johannesburg. The workers were safe and gathered at an assembly point in the underground gold mine, one of the company's deepest located around 60 km (37 miles) west of Johannesburg, it said. It did not provide details on the incident, though a Sibanye spokesperson confirmed it had occurred in the mine's Kloof 7 shaft, adding that all the miners were accounted for and the company was providing them with food. Safety procedures and an examination of the shaft were under way, the spokesperson added, after which the miners would be hoisted to the surface. "We expect the situation to be resolved by about midday today," the spokesperson said. Mining accidents are not uncommon in South Africa, which has some of the world's deepest and oldest gold mines. Earlier this year, at least 78 bodies were pulled from an illegal gold mine after police cut off food and water supplies for months in an attempt to crack down on illegal mining activity. Johannesburg-based Sibanye is among only a few South African miners squeezing profits from the area's gold deposits. The precious metals producer is mining at depths of about 3,200 meters (2 miles) at the Kloof 7 shaft. The Kloof mine, which accounts for 14% of Sibanye's total gold output, also operates two other shafts. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) earlier said it had received reports of the incident, which it said happened at around 1000 pm (0800 pm GMT) on Thursday. Reuters
Reuters
23-05-2025
- Reuters
South Africa's mining union says it received reports of 300 trapped in mine
JOHANNESBURG, May 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Friday that it has received reports of about 300 workers trapped underground at a mine near Johannesburg. "We have reports that about 300 workers are trapped underground at Kloof mine No. 7 shaft. The incident happened at around 10 pm yesterday," a spokesperson for NUM told Reuters.
