JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A mineworker had been killed in a fall-of-ground incident at Harmony Gold’s Bambanani mine, in the Free State, the gold-miner reported on Monday.

Spokesperson Marian van der Walt said that the incident happened at 23:50 on Sunday during face cleaning operations at the mine.

“We express our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased. Harmony has placed significant emphasis on safety and Bambanani has had an excellent safety record prior to this unfortunate incident. We will continue with our effective behaviour-based safety programmes at all our operations, to ensure that a culture and mindset of safety is maintained throughout the company,” Harmony CEO Graham Briggs said.

Work had been stopped at about five stoping panels, with these areas likely to reopen on Monday evening.

Van der Walt noted that about 13 kg of gold production had been lost as a result of the incident.

Nearly 125 employees have been killed in South Africa’s mining industry this year.

To subscribe to Mining Weekly's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.