PERTH (miningweekly.com) − Junior miner Platinum Australia on Monday resumed mining at its Smokey Hills operation, where a contract miner was killed in mob attack on Friday.

Platinum Australia said that a number of arrests had been made regarding the incident, which took place 5 km from the mine in South Africa’s Limpopo province.

A JIC Mining Services worker was killed on Friday when the mini bus transporting nine mining personnel was attacked by a crowd of people, which reportedly included a number of ex-JIC employees whose services had been terminated in February.

Platinum Australia said that when the bus stopped, it was stoned by the crowd, turned on its side, and set on fire. One of the JIC employees was killed when he climbed out of the bus, while five others were hospitalised.

Mining operations at Smokey Hills were suspended on Friday and remained so during the weekend.

A number of senior management from both Platinum Australia and JIC met with local government officials to form a task team to address the situation, and ensure the safety and security of both the mine and its personnel.

“Platinum Australia is confident that the steps already taken by the Limpopo government and implementation of further steps proposed by the task team will provide a safe and secure environment for the operation of Smokey Hills mine,” the company said.
 

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