About 350 people had been rescued from the Elandsrand mine, 80km (50 miles) west of Johannesburg, by the early hours of Thursday, officials said,
Miners are being brought out through an adjacent shaft, but only 75 can be hauled clear at a time.
They became trapped at the bottom of a 2.2km (1.4 mile) shaft when a broken pipe severed power cables to a lift.
The accident happened at about 1000 (0800 GMT) on Wednesday at the Elandsrand mine, owned by Harmony Gold Mining.
Overnight a spokeswoman for the company, Amelia Soares, told the BBC that paramedics had reached the miners and that none were injured in the accident.
She said the bottom of the shaft, where they are trapped, was well ventilated and that the miners had access to water.
Rescuing all 3,200 would take some time, she said, as only 300 people can be brought to the surface every hour.
Maintenance questioned
Ms Soares said a "compressed pipe column" fell down the mineshaft, damaging steel work in the shaft and cutting "electrical feeder cords connected to the lifts underground".
The damage was only noticed late on Wednesday when miners working the day shift tried to surface from the deep shaft they were working in.
| | ELANDSRAND GOLD MINE Elandsrand mine has 6.9 million ounces of proven reserves Located 80km (50 miles) west of Johannesburg It has two vertical shafts - a men/material shaft and a rock/ventilation shaft A new mine, to be finished by 2010, is being built under the existing mine, which is still in use Harmony Gold Mining bought the mine in 2001 |
There has been no collapse or cave-in and there was no risk of flooding, said Ms Soares.
A spokesman for South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers said the mine shafts had not been properly maintained.
"Our guys there tell us that they have raised concerns about the whole issue of maintenance of shafts with the mine, but they have not been attended to," Lesiba Seshoka told the Associated Press news agency.
The Elandsrand mine is in the Witwatersrand Basin, which holds the world's largest gold deposit.
The mines there are among the deepest in the world.
Gold remains important to South Africa's economy, but the industry has been in decline in recent years.
The current high price of gold is keeping many otherwise marginal mines open.
Mr Seshoka said South Africa's mines have a poor safety record, with about 200 workers said to have been killed in accidents in each of the last two years.
No comments:
Post a Comment