JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The situation in the area surrounding platinum miner Atlatsa Resources’ Bokoni mine, in Limpopo, remained tense on Wednesday afternoon, with police having been deployed to the area, following the fatal injury of a community member in a blasting incident at the mine on Monday, spokesperson Prudence Lebina told Mining Weekly Online.
Lebina said the Bokoni mine’s opencast operations, where the incident had occurred, had been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation; however, underground operations continued.
The company said the Klipfontein opencast mine where the incident occurred, comprised about 20% of Bokoni’s total production; however, the mine had an adequate stockpile to continue processing while the opencast operation remained suspended.
“It is key to note that safety is important to Atlatsa and we are working with the police, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and other regulatory bodies [to determine the cause of the incident],” she said.
Lebina further confirmed that, following the incident, community members had broken into the mine premises and damaged contractor mining property and equipment.
Community members had also damaged property outside the mine site, with an Atlatsa employee’s house having been set alight on Tuesday night.
Lebina stated that, as the situation remained tense, extra police had been deployed to the area to contain the situation and provide protection to the company’s employees.
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources on Wednesday said in a statement that it “noted with concern” the blast incident, adding that it was also concerned about the violent protests by community members that followed.
“The committee is not in a position to say whether operations at the mine should shut down and can only express a view after receiving findings of the investigation by health and safety inspectors from the DMR,” it said.
Committee chairperson Sahlulele Luzipo added that the committee would also investigate how a consultation process was conducted before permission was granted to carry out the blast operation at the mine.
“While we appeal for calm among community members, we are also looking at possibilities of visiting the mining area in order to gain understanding of the situation,” Luzipo said.