Practically a 3rd of the 260 miners caught underground following an accident at a Sibanye-Stillwater SSWJ.J gold mine in South Africa had been delivered to the floor on Friday, the corporate stated, as a senior union official confirmed there had been no accidents.
The miners had been caught underground after the hoist system used to entry a shaft on the Kloof gold mine – considered one of Sibanye’s deepest, located about 37 miles west of Johannesburg – was broken in an accident on Thursday.
WHITE HOUSE SHUTS DOWN REPORTER’S ‘RIDICULOUS’ CHALLENGE OF WHITE SOUTH AFRICAN FARMER DEATHS
Sibanye stated 79 of the workers had been delivered to the floor by 1:30 p.m. native time within the first part of an operation to extract the miners.
“The remaining 181 workers … have been supplied with meals and might be hoisted to floor as quickly as security to hoist is confirmed,” Sibanye stated in an announcement.
An organization spokesperson advised Reuters late Friday afternoon that the method was anticipated to be accomplished “quickly.”
Mamodise Mokone, whose husband is among the many miners nonetheless trapped underground, reacts as she speaks to the media on the Sibanye Stillwater mine, in Westonaria, Johannesburg, South Africa, Might 23, 2025. (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)
“Fortuitously there have been no fatalities or accidents,” Nationwide Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Well being and Security Chairperson Duncan Luvuno advised journalists on the web site. “However for … 24 hours individuals weren’t consuming or consuming something. This isn’t satisfactory. Some have power ailments.”
Journalists had been barred by safety guards from getting close to to the mine shaft, however a Reuters reporter noticed a few of the miners, wanting drained however in good well being, stroll to the perimeter of the corporate grounds and board buses.
Kin of these nonetheless within the mine, nevertheless, expressed shock and fear that their family members remained underground.
“I have never slept a wink,” stated Mamodise Mokone, whose husband was among the many miners. “I simply wish to inform the administration or whoever is in cost: I simply need my husband out alive.”
Sibanye earlier stated all the employees had been protected after what it referred to as a “shaft incident” within the Kloof 7 shaft and had been gathered at an meeting level as efforts had been launched to deliver them out of the mine.
Johannesburg-based Sibanye is amongst just a few South African miners squeezing income from a few of the world’s deepest and costliest gold mines. Sibanye is digging for gold at depths of roughly two miles on the Kloof 7 shaft.
The Kloof mine, which accounts for 14% of Sibanye’s complete gold output, additionally operates two different shafts. The corporate mines platinum-group metals in South Africa and the United States as nicely.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Mining accidents aren’t unusual in South Africa, the place many deserted mines have been taken over by casual diggers.
Earlier this yr, a minimum of 78 our bodies had been pulled from an unlawful gold mine after police reduce off meals and water provides for months in an try to crack down on unlawful mining exercise.
