South African mining firm Sibanye-Stillwater is working to safely bring 260 gold miners to the surface after a shaft incident at its Kloof mine left them trapped underground on Thursday night.
The company confirmed all workers are safe and accounted for, gathered at a designated sub-shaft station where they have been provided with food and support while safety assessments continue. Sibanye expects to begin the extraction process on Friday afternoon.
The incident occurred at the Kloof 7 shaft, part of one of Sibanye’s deepest operations, located roughly 60 km (37 miles) west of Johannesburg. Initially, the company reported that 289 workers were underground at the time of the accident.
“It was decided that employees should remain at the sub-shaft station until it is safe to proceed to the surface,” the company said in a statement.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it was alerted to the incident late Thursday evening and is monitoring developments. No injuries have been reported.
Sibanye-Stillwater is one of a shrinking number of firms still operating in South Africa’s ultra-deep and costly gold sector. The Kloof mine, which contributes around 14% of the company’s total gold output, operates at depths reaching 3,200 meters (2 miles). In addition to gold, Sibanye also extracts platinum-group metals in South Africa and the United States.
South Africa’s mining industry has long struggled with safety challenges, particularly in aging and abandoned shafts. Earlier this year, authorities discovered at least 78 bodies in an illegal mine after cutting off supplies in a crackdown on unregulated operations.