A rockfall after a level two quake leaves three trapped 3.5km below ground at the world's deepest mine on the eve of AngloGold's exit
05 March 2020 - 19:32The Mponeng gold mine in Carletonville, Gauteng, was AngloGold Ashanti's only South African underground mine. Picture: BUSINESS DAY
A level two magnitude tremor at midday on Thursday initially trapped seven miners 3.5km below ground at the mine west of Johannesburg and near the town of Carletonville. Four were quickly rescued, some with broken limbs but no life-threatening injuries.While a level two earthquake is barely noticeable on the surface, at 3.5km underground where rock is under tremendous pressure the consequences are potentially severe. In this case it led to an incident the industry calls a “fall of ground”.
SA’s gold mines had for decades been dangerous places to work, with annual fatalities running into multiple hundreds. The department of mineral resources & energy says 11,000 miners died between 1984 and 2005. Harmony will pay AngloGold $200m in cash and $260/oz of gold from Mponeng and other underground assets included in the transaction based on production above 250,000oz a year. These payments would be made for six years from the start of 2021 and are capped at $100m.
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