A worker was killed in an accident at the Atlatsa Resources operated Bokoni Platinum Mine in Limpopo Province, South Africa, on Friday 30 August 2013. The accident is described as involving a scraper winch; a piece of equipment used to transport loose ore. Following an inspection by the South African Department of Mineral Resources the operations in the UM2 shaft in which the accident happened, one of two inclined shafts at the mine, have been halted.
Map of the Bokoni Platinum Mine. The dark blue line is the UM2 Shaft. Anglo American.
The Bokoni Mine is located on the northeastern fringe of South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex, which outcrops around the edges of the Transvaal Basin and contains some of the Earth's richest mineral deposits, notably of platinum, palladium, osmium, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, iron, tin, chromium, titanium and vanadium. It is thought to have formed by the intrusion of metal rich magma into the Earth's crust around 2 billion years ago.
Block diagram of the southeastern part of the Bushveld Complex. Cawthorn (2010).
The Bokoni Mine currently produces around 80 000 tonnes of ore per month, but is thought to have the potential to produce considerably more, and Atlatsa have ambitious plans for the expansion of the site.
See also Worker killed at Western Australia ore mine, Union official assassinated at Lonmin's Marikana Platinum Mine, Swedish miners rescued from underground fire, Chile closes inquiry into 2010 mine collapse and Shooting at Lonmin's Marikana Platinum Mine.
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