Three people are still missing following a collapse at the Vantage Goldfields operated Makonjwaan Lily Gold Mine near Low's Creek in Mpumalanga at about 8.40 am local time on Friday 5 February 2015. The incident was reportedly caused by the failure of an underground pillar, which in turn led to a roof collapse, trapping 87 miners below ground. All of these workers have now been rescued successfully with only miner injuries, however the collapse also led to the formation of a sinkhole (surface hole created by the formation of a void bellow ground)which swallowed a mobile office building in which two women and a man were working, It is these three mine employees, understood to have been involved in issuing miners with safety equipment, that are still missing and are still being actively sought by rescue teams. All production at the mine has ceased until further notice, and workers are being offered trauma counseling.
Friends and relatives of the missing mineworkers waiting for news at the Makonjwaan Lily Gold Mine. AP.
The Makonjawaan Lily Gold Mine is a shallow pit mine with an estimated reserve of about 0.35 million ounces of gold and an annual production of about 35 000 ounces per year. It accesses an ore body within the Barberton Greenstone Belt, an ancient (more than 3 billion years old) section of basement rocks underlying parts of South Africa and Swaziland, which forms the eastern part of the Kaapvaal Craton, one of the ancient blocks from which the continent of Africa was assembled.
The approximate location of the Makonjwaan Lily Gold Mine. Google Maps.
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