Impala Platinum, Anooraq report fatal accidents

Three workers died in separate platinum mine accidents in South Africa over the last couple of days, with both Impala Platinum (Implats) and Anooraq on Monday reporting fatalities.

JSE-listed Implats said it had recovered the bodies of two workers who were trapped after a fall-of-ground accident at Impala Rustenburg’s 7 Shaft on Friday, while Anooraq Resources reported the death of an employee at the Bokoni platinum mine’s Middelpunt Hill UG2 shaft on the same day.

Implats said a full investigation was under way and that it had suspended operations at Impala Rustenburg to undertake a safety review.

Meanwhile, Anooraq, which is listed in South Africa and Canada, reported the fatality occurred after the employee was struck by a dump truck in the main decline shaft.

Operations at Bokoni, located on the north-eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, were voluntarily stopped on Saturday. A preliminary investigation into the accident has been conducted in cooperation with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and union representatives, after which the DMR issued a Section 54 safety stoppage notice in respect of the Middelpunt Hill operations.

“All other mine operations remained unaffected,” the company said in a statement.

Before this fatal accident, Bokoni platinum mines had achieved 1.5-million fatality-free shifts on October 15.

Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu last week said the DMR would step up its health and safety audits over the festive season and into the first quarter of 2012. She said recent audits highlighted a culture on noncompliance and warned companies that the department would take action against mines that did not comply with minimum safety standards.

The Minister added that the DMR was reviewing the Mine Health and Safety Act to strengthen enforcement. – MiningWeekly

Tags: Anooraq, Impala Platinum, platinum, Platinum mining companies, platinum price, platinum prices

Posted by admin on Nov 22 2011. Filed under Platinum. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry