JSE-listed gold miner, Harmony Gold, on Monday said all of the 486 employees at its Kusasalethu mine were brought to surface safely on Sunday.

This came after a successful operation undertaken by mine rescue teams who were deployed underground to contain a fire believed to have started during maintenance work on a bulk air cooler on 75 level and to bring employees to surface.

The fire started at around 09:40 on Sunday 22 February some 2 300 metres underground, the company said.
Graham Briggs, Harmony CEO said all colleagues had been brought to surface, without injury.

“This is to the credit of our systems, employees, the unions, and mine management who have worked tirelessly over the past 12 hours,” Briggs said.

“I also want to extend our thanks to mine rescue services for their efforts,” he added.

Operations at the mine have been suspended. Investigations into the cause of the fire will be conducted jointly with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and mine management.

Harmony recently said one of its workers was fatally injured in a rail-bound equipment related accident at its Masimong mine near Welkom in the Free State Province.

This comes shortly after another gold miner was killed in a tramming accident at Harmony’s Tshepong mine near Welkom in the Free State Province, late last year.