Sibanye-Stillwater is working to safely bring 260 miners to the surface after they became stranded underground at one of its gold mines in South Africa due to a damaged hoist system, the company confirmed on Friday.
The incident, described by the company as a “shaft incident,” occurred on Thursday at the Kloof gold mine, located approximately 60 kilometres west of Johannesburg. The Kloof site is among Sibanye’s deepest operations.
According to the mining firm, all workers remain unharmed and are currently assembled at a designated underground point, where they have been supplied with food. Plans were underway on Friday afternoon to commence their retrieval.
“It was decided that employees should remain at the sub-shaft station until it is safe to proceed to the surface,” the company said.
Initially, a spokesperson had reported that 289 miners were trapped underground at the Kloof 7 shaft. The shaft reaches depths of around 3,200 metres, making it one of the deepest gold mining operations globally.
Sibanye-Stillwater, based in Johannesburg, is one of the few South African mining companies still generating profits from some of the world’s most challenging and expensive gold mines. The Kloof 7 shaft alone accounts for 14% of the company’s total gold output. In addition to its gold mining operations, Sibanye also extracts platinum-group metals in both South Africa and the United States.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it had received information about the incident, which reportedly took place around 10:00 pm local time on Thursday.
Mining accidents remain a persistent concern in South Africa, where disused and abandoned sites are often exploited by informal or illegal miners. Earlier this year, at least 78 bodies were recovered from an unauthorised gold mine after police shut off food and water supplies in an attempt to clamp down on illicit mining activity.
