More than 3,000 trapped in South Africa mine

[Saguaro]

CNN) -- More than 3,000 mine workers are trapped at Harmony Gold's Elandsrand mine in Carletonville, South Africa, according to the South African Press Association.

No injuries have been reported.

The workers became trapped when a falling pipe column cut power to the lift used to hoist them to the surface, the press association said.

The mineworkers' union said a water pipe burst and probably caused the shaft to collapse, The Associated Press reported.

There has been extensive damage to the steel work and the electrical feeder cords attached to the lift, according to a Harmony Gold spokesperson quoted by SAPA.

Workers above ground are trying to configure a second cage to rescue those trapped.

The lift is expected to be functioning in two hours, but it could take more than 10 hours to evacuate all the miners, according to the press association. The cage can only take 300 workers to the surface every half hour, the spokesperson said.

Mine management is in contact with the workers, who have access to water and air, the press association reported.

The workers have been trapped since 10 a.m., but news was not reported until 9 p.m.

There was no emergency exit in the shaft, which had "not been maintained for ages," the press association quoted mineworkers union spokesman Lesiba Seshoka as saying.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/10/03/carletonville.mine/index.html

[sparks]

I hope they all get out safe and sound.

[Yellowdogtexan]

I hope that they get out safe. I understand that there is a risk that the air may run out before they get the second elevator working

[Rockin Rodney]

They should NEVER allow these mines to be dug without TWO ways out or emergency shafts that are sunk into the drilling areas that can be used to transport Oxygen from the surface to the dig area! Expensive? Who gives a rats butt these people are exploiting millions off these workers, just as they have here in Penn. West V. and Utah.

I don't know if America has any working Gold Mines anymore since Homestead SD shut down? I went through that place and they used Chinese Labor for years before the West become civilized.

Guess the Mining world need the tenacity of several John L Lewis's to offset greedy owners.

Lets Pray the all get out alive!

[Saguaro]

CARLETONVILLE, South Africa - More than 2,000 trapped gold miners were rescued in a dramatic all-night operation, and efforts gathered speed Thursday to bring hundreds more to the surface.

There were no casualties when a pressurized air pipe snapped at the mine near Johannesburg and tumbled down a shaft Wednesday, causing extensive damage to an elevator and stranding more than 3,000 miners more than a mile underground.

The mine owner and South Africa's minerals and energy minister vowed to improve safety in one of the country's most important industries.

The accident prompted allegations of the industry cutting safety corners in the name of profit — and accusations from the government that mine owner Harmony Gold Mining Co. did not bother to inform it of the potentially devastating crisis.

Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica complained that she found out from the late evening news about the accident, which happened just after 6 a.m. She said President Thabo Mbeki also found out from the news bulletin.

Sonjica said during a visit to the Elandsrand mine at Carletonville — a town in South Africa's mining heartland near Johannesburg — that health and safety legislation would be "tightened up."

Last year, 199 mineworkers died in accidents, mostly rock falls, the government Mine Health and Safety Council reported in September. One worker was killed last week in a mine adjacent to Elandsrand.

"We have to recommit ourselves to refocus on safety in this country; our safety record both as a company and an industry leave much to be desired," Harmony Gold Mining Co. chairman Patrice Motsepe said according to the South African Press Association, as union officials accused the industry of taking short cuts on safety in the interest of profit.

The hundreds of workers who remained underground were all near a ventilation shaft and had been given water — though no food for fear of provoking a scramble among hungry miners, according to Peter Bailey, health and safety chairman for the National Mineworkers Union.

Mine general manager Stan Bierschenk said that most of the miners complained of heat exhaustion and fatigue.

Bierschenk said the company hoped to complete the rescue by lunchtime, although Bailey said this was optimistic and that late-afternoon was more realistic.

Sethiri Thibile, who was in the first batch of miners rescued about 19 hours after the accident, clutched a cold beef sandwich and a bottle of water he was given when he reached the surface.

"I was hungry, though we were all hungry," said Thibile, 32, an engineering assistant who had been underground since early Wednesday morning. He said there was no food or water in the mine.

"Most of the people are scared and we also have some women miners there underground," said Thibile.

Rescued miners emerged from the shaft with their faces etched with dust and the lamps on their hardhats still lit. "We are still all right. I am a bit relieved but very, very hungry," miner Jerry Lepolese said after.

As dawn broke over Carletonville, a town near Johannesburg, there were scenes of relief and despair. A woman put her arm around her sobbing daughter, who was apparently distraught at the lack of news about her husband.

Disgruntled family members stood outside the mine offices, complaining that they had not been given enough information about their loved ones.

"I am very traumatized, exhausted, not knowing what is going on," said Sam Ramohanoe, whose wife, Flora, 31, was among the trapped. "It is very unfair to us, not knowing what is going one with our beloved ones."

Deon Boqwana, regional chairman for the union, said officials were in contact with the men below ground by a telephone line in the mine.

Boqwana said the smaller cage being used to bring miners out can hold about 75 miners at a time. He said it normally takes three minutes to reach the surface but would be slower because rescuers were being careful.

Bailey, the union health chairman, said the miners were "very afraid," hungry and thirsty after being underground for hours.

"Some of these mineworkers started duty on Tuesday evening. It is now Wednesday night and they are still underground," he said.

A spokesman for the union, Lesiba Seshoka, said that the mine was not properly maintained.

"Our guys there tell us that they have raised concerns about the whole issue of maintenance of shafts with the mine (managers) but they have not been attended to," he said.

Company spokeswoman Amelia Soares said the mine had won a number of safety awards and had never witnessed any fatal accidents. She said the company was likely to suffer considerable loss in output during the closure, but was unable to give a precise estimate, saying that attention for now was concentrated on the rescue operation.

Senzeni Zokwana, the president of the National Mineworkers Union, said the accident should be a wake-up call for the industry.

"We are very much concerned. We believe that this should be a call to the industry that secondary exits underground be mandated," said Zokwana.

Motsepe said he had been in the mining business since the 1980s and could not remember an another incident were so many miners had been trapped below ground.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071004/ap_on_re_af/south_africa_mine;_ylt=AoA2H1yCL1GzdRqdekofvLOs0NU E

[cassandra]

Thank you for the update Saguaro.

[Ringo]

All 3,200 Slaves are safe, so the S.Africans can again send them down to a risky lifestyle for THIER wealth!

[The Q]

All 3,200 Slaves are safe, so the S.Africans can again send them down to a risky lifestyle for THIER wealth!

Well that was one of your better posts, Ringo. :heart

ADQ

[toxic]

All 3,200 Slaves are safe, so the S.Africans can again send them down to a risky lifestyle for THIER wealth!

Their stock trades on the NYSE.

Their mines are up to 5,000 meters deep! Yes, today's gold mining goes to 15,000 feet or deeper. The earth's temperature is around 130 F and they reroute underground rivers to cool the mineshafts.

It is an amazing feat and amazingly dangerious. I understand most of the workers are dying of AIDS, which makes the risks a sort of compromise.

[The Q]

The whole world needs to come together and help out Africa. :kickcan

ADQ