Impala: 12 Dead, 74 Injured in Rustenburg Shaft Incident

Impala: 12 Dead, 74 Injured in Rustenburg Shaft Incident

On Monday, November 27, 2023, Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (Implats) reported a serious safety failure involving its hoisting system at the 11 Shaft of its Rustenburg operation in South Africa’s North West province that claimed the lives of 12 miners and injured another 74. The winder rope remained connected to a 3-level lift, which hoists miners up and down the shaft, as it fell nearly 180 meters (m) before coming to a sudden stop above the shaft bottom.

More than 15 specialist rescue teams, referred to as proto teams locally, were deployed to 11 Shaft. Other mining operations sent all available ambulances to Impala Rustenburg to assist in transporting the injured to the nearby hospitals, with paramedics deployed to give medical assistance. Working throughout the evening and into the early morning hours, the first responders accessed underground workings, cleared all three levels of the lift, and brought 86 miners to the surface. Each level of the lift has the capacity to carry 35 miners.

On Tuesday, November 28, Implats CEO, Nico Muller, issued a statement saying: “All mining operations at Impala Rustenburg were proactively suspended on Tuesday, 28 November 2023, with our first responsibility and priority being the safety and wellbeing of our employees at the mine. Operations at 11 Shaft and 11C Shaft will remain closed until all internal processes are complete — we are conducting these with officials from the Department of Minerals Resources and Energy. At this time of profound grief, our thoughts are with the families mourning their loved ones. We stand in solidarity with our employees, their families, communities and indeed everyone impacted by this heartbreaking event.

The 11 Shaft is approximately 1,000 m deep with operations across 20 levels. After ascending as scheduled towards 17 level, the lift unexpectedly reversed direction and began descending back down through the shaft. The emergency protocol for such an incident was immediately and automatically activated. The winder rope remained intact, but the emergency protocol failed to immediately arrest the lift’s rapid descent.

The lift came to a sudden stop at 20 level, some 180 m below 17 level close to the bottom of 11 Shaft, when the counterweight reached the top of the headframe on the surface, and as designed, was caught in jack catches. This resulted in a sudden, almost instantaneous deceleration, the force of which severely impacted the 86 miners who were standing upright in the three levels of the lift at the time. Given that the lift was still attached to the winder rope as it dropped, the company does not believe the lift was in freefall and, as a result, the precise break force is not currently known.

The company said the mechanisms used to operate the conveyance system, and the safety protocols involved in arresting falls in such systems, are known to be safe and are used in mining operations globally.

“While we have a strong understanding of what happened yesterday, we are still investigating how it could have happened, and the answer to that question and other concerns may take some time to accurately establish,” Muller said. “We are working closely with the relevant authorities and will provide additional updates when possible and appropriate.”

As of today, November 30, 2023, Impala said 14 of the 74 have been discharged. Of the remaining 60 hospitalized miners, 10 remain in critical care. No further fatalities have been reported. An accident at a platinum mine in South Africa has killed 11 workers and injured 75, the mine’s operator says. Impala Platinum chief executive Nico Muller described it as the “darkest day” in the company’s history.

The firm said the accident involved a winding rope connected to a cage-style lift which hoists people up and down the mine shaft. The lift started moving downwards unexpectedly, it added. South Africa has some of the world’s deepest mines. It is a leading producer of platinum, gold and other raw materials. There have long been concerns about safety conditions on its mines, but the situation has improved since white-minority rule ended in 1994. The latest accident took place on Monday at a mine in Rustenburg, about 100km (60 miles) north-west of Johannesburg.

The deaths bring to 55 the number of fatalities on South African mines this year. “This is a terrible blow to our ambition of ending 2023 with fewer fatalities than last year when there were 49 fatalities, the lowest on record, and the continuation of our journey towards zero harm,” said Mzila Mthenjane, the chief executive of Minerals Council South Africa, the main representative of mining firms in the country. Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has visited the mine. He described the accident as a disaster, and said a thorough investigation would take place to establish what happened. Impala Platinum said that operations at the mine have been suspended.

“Implats is offering ongoing support to the families and colleagues of those lost in service,” Mr Muller said in a statement. “We also hold our injured colleagues in our thoughts at this incredibly difficult time.” Company spokesman Johan Theron told the BBC the surviving 75 mineworkers were all “injured to some degree” and sent to hospitals, but that some have “very serious” injuries. He said 10 people were in a critical condition, with one airlifted to Johannesburg for “intensive care”. The cage-style lift that was used to take workers out of the mine went into an uncontrolled fall and hit the bottom of the shaft, Mr Theron added. Some of those affected by the tragedy were from outside South Africa, the company spokesman said. Mr Theron was quoted by local media as saying the accident was “highly unusual”, and the lift was used worldwide and had a reputation of being safe. Lifts in many of South Africa’s deep mines can carry more than 100 people, according to the AFP news agency.

The president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, Joseph Mathunjwa, told the BBC that the company “must take full responsibility and go beyond the normal tick-box exercise in terms of compensation” for the victims. He said the 11 miners “perished underground due to the malfunctioning of the cage” and that “we believe strongly that this accident could have been avoided because already the signs were there that it was malfunctioning”. Mr Mathunjwa said a malfunction was picked up during an earlier servicing of the lift but an investigation said it was in good condition. When the BBC put the claim to the mining firm, a spokesman said they were not aware of the issues raised, but the union was welcome to come forward with its concerns. Equipment was checked on a daily basis, the spokesman added. Mr Mathunjwa said the union wanted an “independent expert” to be involved in the official investigation. The National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa said the workers who died were not “just numbers”, but were bread-winners of families which loved them. “This incident is gravely concerning and it raises a lot of questions about health and safety issues,” it added in a statement.

Updated: Impala Platinum restarts South African mines after deadly accident

November 29, 2023 JOHANNESBURG, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Impala Platinum (IMPJ.J) said Thursday it is restarting mines that had been halted for two days after an accident at one of its shafts resulted in the deaths of 12 workers.

Mining operations at platinum mines in Rustenburg – in South Africa’s North West province – would be gradually ramped up to full production by Monday, said Johan Theron, spokesperson for Impala. The Johannesburg-based platinum shut down most of its mines in South Africa after an accident at its No. 11 shaft killed 11 workers and saw another 75 hospitalised on Monday. Impala said Wednesday another employee had succumbed to injuries, raising the toll to 12.

“The process to resume production starts today but we will be close to normal production from Monday next week,” Theron told Reuters. Impala is among South African companies that operate some of the world’s deepest and ageing platinum mining shafts. South Africa is the world’s top supplier of platinum, which is used in devices that help curb toxic vehicle emissions.

The mine where the incident took place would probably restart next year, said Theron, declining to say how the closure would impact group metals output. The No. 11 shaft accounts for about 15% of Impala’s platinum-group metals production at the Rustenburg mining complex. “It’s safe to assume that it will be up early next year but our primary consideration right now is not to count ounces,” Theron said. Bank of America Securities analysts said the affected shaft has an annual output of about 173,000 ounces and could be out of use for as much as 18 months, impacting earnings.

“We take a view and reduce assumed production by this volume for the…remainder of FY2024 (June year-end) and all of FY2025,” BofA Securities said in a Nov. 28 note.