JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The No 14 shaft that forms part of world number-two platinum producer Impala Platinum's (Implats') Rustenburg operations, was reopened on Monday, after it was shut last week following the death of a mine worker.
A worker had died at the shaft on Wednesday.
The employee, along with other team members, was carrying a ventilation pipe, which then had fallen onto him. He subsequently sustained serious head injuries.
The Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) had conducted an inspection and issued a Section 54 notice.
The DME met with Implats management on Monday and lifted the Section 54 notice, confirmed Implats investor relations executive, Bob Gilmour.
The production loss owing to the shaft closure was "minimal", he added.
The DME's inspector of mines, Thabo Gazi, last week confirmed that South Africa's mine fatality numbers had declined in 2008. The department would finalise its statistics and release its report by the end of this month.
About 168 mine workers had died in South Africa's mines last year.
|
|
