RECOVERY efforts at Lily Mine in Barberton, Mpumalanga, where three employees were trapped underground more than a month ago, will resume, Vantage Gold CEO Mike McChesney said on Thursday.
Five geo-technical experts brought into consult had concluded that there was only one option for recovery of a metal container trapped underground, but his option was likely to take six months, Mr McChesney said at a briefing in Pretoria.
Recovery operations at the mine were suspended on Monday after it was determined the ground was too unstable to continue with operations that had been going on for a month.
Solomon Nyerenda, Pretty Nkambule and Yvonne Mnisi were in a lamp room when a shaft collapsed on February 5. The metal container they were working in fell into a sinkhole at the site, with operations further disrupted in February when soil and part of a structure also fell into the hole.
A safety shaft was no longer viable, said Mr McChesney. A second channel will now be dug in geologically stable ground, but this would be located relatively far from the sinkhole, he said.
Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Thursday the department was convinced the option was viable, and priority would be given to recovery of the container and closure to families.
"We believe this is the safe option because our primary task is to ensure that nobody is hurt or nobody gets compromised during this phase," he said.
Security marshalls open the gates for an ambulance to leave the Goldfields Lily Mine in Barberton in the South African Mpumalanga province after a gold mine collapsed on February 5, 2016. Picture: AFP/STRINGER
RECOVERY efforts at Lily Mine in Barberton, Mpumalanga, where three employees were trapped underground more than a month ago, will resume, Vantage Gold CEO Mike McChesney said on Thursday.
Five geo-technical experts brought into consult had concluded that there was only one option for recovery of a metal container trapped underground, but his option was likely to take six months, Mr McChesney said at a briefing in Pretoria.
Recovery operations at the mine were suspended on Monday after it was determined the ground was too unstable to continue with operations that had been going on for a month.
Solomon Nyerenda, Pretty Nkambule and Yvonne Mnisi were in a lamp room when a shaft collapsed on February 5. The metal container they were working in fell into a sinkhole at the site, with operations further disrupted in February when soil and part of a structure also fell into the hole.
A safety shaft was no longer viable, said Mr McChesney. A second channel will now be dug in geologically stable ground, but this would be located relatively far from the sinkhole, he said.
Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Thursday the department was convinced the option was viable, and priority would be given to recovery of the container and closure to families.
"We believe this is the safe option because our primary task is to ensure that nobody is hurt or nobody gets compromised during this phase," he said.
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