JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Criminal charges have been laid against 294 illegal miners at one of South African gold major Harmony Gold’s old shafts, while 36 bodies had been recovered at the shaft.

Harmony reported on Monday that 294 illegal miners had been brought to surface at its Eland shaft, which formed part of the company’s Matjhabeng operations, in the Free State.

The illegal miners had also, over the past weekend, brought 36 bodies of illegal miners, who had reportedly died following an underground fire in an abandoned area of the shaft, to surface.

Harmony Gold South Region COO Tom Smith told Mining Weekly Online that the shaft was no longer in operation, with only the shaft barrel operating to pump water out of the shaft.

He added that the illegal miners have been charged with trespassing and with illegal dealing in or the possession of gold.

The illegal miners had stolen mostly gold, although a small amount of copper had also been taken, said Smith.

Harmony said in a statement that it was not certain if any other illegal miners had died underground at the shaft, adding that it would not deploy its own employees to search the areas where the illegal miners were working, as these areas were “extremely dangerous”.

The gold-miner has continued to act against illegal miners since early this year, when it launched its Operation Zama.

“We continue to address the issue of criminal mining on a daily basis, together with the South African Police Services (SAPS), the Department of Justice, the National Prosecuting Authority and other affected mining companies,” Harmony CEO Graham Briggs added.

In March, the company reported that 114 illegal miners had been arrested by the SAPS following a search at eight of its mines in the Free State. Nineteen of these miners had been employees of Harmony or employees of its contractors.

Smith noted that none of its employees had been involved in the latest incident at the Eland shaft.

He explained that, while similar incidents did occur at some of Harmony’s operations in other regions, the majority of illegal mining activity took place at its Free State mines.

This was owing to the fact that the area contained high-carbonised gold reefs and that all the shafts were interlinked so that there was a vast operational area.

The company has implemented a number of initiatives to combat the problem, including tightening security at shaft heads, conducting daily search operations underground and improving access control measures.

Gold junior Pan African Resources had also reported the death of 20 illegal miners at its Baberton mines earlier this year.

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