THERE will be an inquiry into the cause of the collapse at the Lily Mine in Mpumalanga but the priority is returning a metal container and three trapped workers to the surface, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Thursday.
Vantage Gold CEO Mike McChesney said on Thursday that recovery operations, suspended earlier in the week, would resume once the advice of the world’s top geotechnical experts was solicited. While the only current option was safe, it could take up to six months, Mr McChesney said in Pretoria.
Five geotechnical experts brought in to consult had concluded there was only one option for the recovery of the metal container that remains trapped underground. This would require a channel being dug through geologically stable rock relatively far from the site itself.
Rescue operations at the mine were suspended earlier this week after it was determined the ground was too unstable to continue.
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.
The other 76 mineworkers trapped underground were returned to the surface.
Both the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have demanded justice should the mine be shown to be culpable.
Mr Zwane said on Thursday the department believed the recovery plan was safe and viable, and the recovery of the container and closure for families remained the priority.
Investigations would be conducted and the results made public, he said. This was in line with the wishes of the families of the mineworkers, he said.
"It is our priority for each and every incident that we are going to want to know the cause thereof and the remedial issues going forward," said Mr Zwane.
An emotional Mr McChesney said on Thursday that neither the company nor the numerous experts who had visited the site could explain the cause of the sinkhole that developed during a shaft collapse.
The mine would continue to support the families, he said.
"It was a most unusual event, most unexpected, and very sudden," he said.
The magnitude and complexity of the recovery operation had also come as a surprise, he said.
WAITING: People outside Lily Mine in Barberton, Mpumalanga, wait for news about workers trapped underground. Picture: VATHISWA RUSELO/SOWETAN
THERE will be an inquiry into the cause of the collapse at the Lily Mine in Mpumalanga but the priority is returning a metal container and three trapped workers to the surface, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Thursday.
Vantage Gold CEO Mike McChesney said on Thursday that recovery operations, suspended earlier in the week, would resume once the advice of the world’s top geotechnical experts was solicited. While the only current option was safe, it could take up to six months, Mr McChesney said in Pretoria.
Five geotechnical experts brought in to consult had concluded there was only one option for the recovery of the metal container that remains trapped underground. This would require a channel being dug through geologically stable rock relatively far from the site itself.
Rescue operations at the mine were suspended earlier this week after it was determined the ground was too unstable to continue.
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.
The other 76 mineworkers trapped underground were returned to the surface.
Both the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have demanded justice should the mine be shown to be culpable.
Mr Zwane said on Thursday the department believed the recovery plan was safe and viable, and the recovery of the container and closure for families remained the priority.
Investigations would be conducted and the results made public, he said. This was in line with the wishes of the families of the mineworkers, he said.
"It is our priority for each and every incident that we are going to want to know the cause thereof and the remedial issues going forward," said Mr Zwane.
An emotional Mr McChesney said on Thursday that neither the company nor the numerous experts who had visited the site could explain the cause of the sinkhole that developed during a shaft collapse.
The mine would continue to support the families, he said.
"It was a most unusual event, most unexpected, and very sudden," he said.
The magnitude and complexity of the recovery operation had also come as a surprise, he said.
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