JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Work on the shaft sinking operations on the main and ventilation shafts at the Bakubung platinum mine site, in Rustenburg, was suspended after Wesizwe on Monday reported its first fatality.
A contractor employed as a jumbo operator was fatally injured on October 17 during the shaft sinking process at the mine, with early investigations indicating that the worker had been hit by a metal object that fell 22 m down the mine shaft.
The contractor had been part of a team completing cleaning processes, loading broken rock at the bottom of the shaft and in the process of slinging a jumbo drill rig.
Operations at the shaft had been halted pending the outcome of a full investigation to determine the root causes of the incident, and the subsequent presentation to the Department of Mineral Resources. 