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Geological experts brought in over the weekend have advised management of the collapsed Mpumalanga mine to postpone the rescue mission.
Lily Mine management already suspended the mission on Saturday following another collapse at the mine – which extracts gold – in Louisville outside Barberton. This collapse affected the tunnel entrance.
Mike McChesney, chief executive of Vintage Goldfields, which owns the mine, said geological experts had advised that the open pit had not settled as its side walls were still scaling off. The last scaling off happened yesterday, and McChesney said it was expected.
“The advice is that we should not send people down there to continue with the rescue mission. We’ve had extensive input from local and international geological experts,” McChesney said.
Three miners – Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyerende – have been trapped for 10 days in a metal lamp office. They were working in the office when it sank about 60 metres after the ground next to the entrance collapsed on February 5
Seventy-six workers who were inside the tunnel when the incident happened, were rescued.
“The chances of finding the trapped miners alive are diminishing every day,” McChesney said.
Electromagnetic survey equipment picked up reactions or tappings from inside the container during the first few days.
The rescue team has managed to reach a distance of about 15 kilometres to the office as they had to remove rocks, soil and debris on the way.
McChesney said that the cost of the operation had not been counted but it probably ran into millions of rands.
Traditional rituals allowed
McChesney said that community members were allowed to come in and perform traditional rituals at the mine. The local tribal community suspected that supernatural powers had something to do with the accident.
“We’re open for traditional rituals if the community members want to,” he said.
Presidential team
Meanwhile, President Jacob Zuma has sent in a team of three ministers – Mosebenzi Zwane (mineral resources), Bathabile Dlamini (social development) and Susan Shabangu (women) to deal with the disaster.
Zwane said social workers were assisting the miners’ families to cope with the situation.
Investigation into the cause of the collapse
Zwane said that an investigation into the cause of the collapse had been instituted and emphasised that he was generally unhappy about accidents at mines.
“No one anticipated what happened here but, despite this tragedy, the mine management has been supportive. I will meet captains of the industry to map a way forward on what we see in terms of health and safety of mine workers,” he said.
Zwane said Lily Mine met all the requirements to mine.
