Wrap Text
Review and update of the tragic seismic incident at Driefontein operations
Sibanye Gold Limited
Trading as Sibanye-Stillwater
Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa
Registration number 2002/031431/06
Share code: SGL
ISIN – ZAE000173951
Issuer code: SGL
(“Sibanye-Stillwater” or “the Group” or “the Company”)
Review and update of the tragic seismic incident at Sibanye-Stillwater’s
Driefontein operations
Johannesburg, 7 May 2018. On Saturday 5 May 2018, Sibanye-Stillwater announced
that all 13 of its employees who were trapped underground at its Masakhane
mine, Driefontein operations had been recovered and brought to surface by mine
rescue personnel.
Six of the employees, were successfully rescued and transported to hospital,
and remain in a stable condition.
It is with much sadness and regret however, that the Board and management of
Sibanye-Stillwater confirms that seven of the 13 employees who were retrieved,
passed away from injuries sustained during the incident.
The families of all of the employees have been contacted and assisted with
transport to the mine, and have been receiving necessary support and
counselling, which will be ongoing.
The Board and management of Sibanye-Stillwater wishes to extend their sincere
condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the affected employees
and all others impacted by this disaster.
“Our deep level mining layouts and support systems are designed to cater for
this level of seismicity and I assure you we will, together with the Department
of Mineral Resources (DMR) and other stakeholders, be conducting a
comprehensive investigation into this incident, in order to establish the cause
of the incident and what actions need to be taken, to ensure this never happens
again. The health and safety of our people is paramount and we remain committed
to taking any actions necessary, which will support our quest for zero harm in
the workplace”, Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater stated.
A day of mourning and memorial service for the deceased colleagues, has been
declared for the entire Driefontein operations on Thursday 10 May 2018, with
employees from the Masakhane mine, observing a further day of mourning on
Friday 11 May 2018. Funeral services for the deceased colleagues will be held
on Saturday 12 May 2018.
A thorough in-loco inspection and investigation by management, the DMR and
other stakeholders, will be conducted at a date to be established by the DMR.
Normal operations at the rest of the Driefontein operations, resumed on
Saturday 5 May 2018.
The Sibanye-Stillwater Board, would like to reiterate their appreciation for
the untiring efforts of all involved in recovering the trapped employees. This
includes, primarily, the mine rescue teams and Sibanye-Stillwater employees,
who worked continuously to rescue our colleagues under extremely challenging
conditions, but also management who oversaw the rescue operations and other
stakeholders such as the DMR, who provided invaluable support and advice.
Background on the incident:
A seismic event (measuring 2.5 on the Richter scale) occurred on the western
side of the Driefontein operations at approximately 12:15 on Thursday, 3 May
2018. Immediately after the location (epicentre) of this seismic event was
identified by Sibanye-Stillwater’s extensive underground seismic monitoring
systems, the teams working in the western side were contacted to ascertain if
there had been any related safety concerns. One of the teams did not respond on
the first call, and a rescue process was immediately triggered. An emergency
control room was established and paramedics and mine rescue teams deployed to
the mine. The unaccounted for team subsequently responded and it was
established that the installed support and other safety systems in the area had
prevented significant damage, and as a result, there were no injuries or safety
issues resulting from the seismic event.
A mine rescue team had already been deployed and was making its way
underground, when an unrelated second seismic event (measuring about 2.2 on the
Richter scale) occurred at about 13:20, on the eastern side of the Masakhane
mine approximately 2.5km away from the first event.
Although of a lower magnitude than the first event, the second seismic event
caused a working stope (40 level,-27 East, 7 West panel), which was close to
the epicentre of the seismic event to be inundated with loose rocks, trapping
13 employees working in the stope. No other stopes in the mine were affected
and all remaining employees at Driefontein were safely evacuated from the
underground operations.
Shortly after the incident, rescue efforts began in earnest. All relevant
stakeholders including the DMR and unions were alerted about the incident and
once the missing employees had been identified, efforts to contact their
families were made. The families were offered transport to the mine, where they
received regular updates on the rescue mission, and support, trauma counselling
and medical care.
Specially trained rescue teams from Mine Rescue Services, supported by Sibanye-
Stillwater employees and guided by management in the emergency control room,
worked relentlessly in extremely challenging conditions, for more than 40 hours
to rescue and recover the missing employees, with the last employee being
recovered at about 07:30 on Saturday 6 May 2018. The fact that there were no
further injuries despite the trying conditions, is testament to the training
and commitment of these teams. We would like to thank all of the Mine Rescue
Services brigadesmen from across the SA Mining industry, who volunteered for
this essential service. A special note of appreciation goes to our own
employees who volunteered and worked non-stop through the entire rescue period
alongside the Mine Rescue Services brigadesmen. You are all true heroes.
Blasting operations were suspended across the Driefontein operations following
the seismic event. Blasting operations subsequently resumed at the unaffected
Driefontein mines on Saturday, 5 May 2018.
Ends.
Investor relations contact:
James Wellsted
Head of Investor Relations
+27 (0) 83 453 4014
Email: ir@sibanyestillwater.com
Contact:
James Wellsted
Head of Investor Relations
+27 (0) 83 453 4014
email: ir@sibanyestillwater.com
Sponsor: J.P. Morgan Equities South Africa (Proprietary) Limited
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This announcement includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning
of the “safe harbour” provisions of the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified
by the use of words such as “target”, “will”, “forecast”, “expect”,
“potential”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “can” and other similar
expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are
not statements of historical matters. The forward-looking statements set
out in this announcement involve a number of known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors, many of which are difficult to predict
and generally beyond the control of Sibanye-Stillwater, that could cause
Sibanye-Stillwater’s actual results and outcomes to be materially
different from historical results or from any future results expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Sibanye-
Stillwater undertakes no obligation to update publicly or release any
revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of this announcement or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events, save as required by applicable law.
Date: 07/05/2018 07:05:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE').
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