African Miners Rescued After 35 Hours in Mine

After being stranded beneath the Earth for an entire 24 hours (or more), the gold miners have finally been rescued. The owner, Harmony Gold, took action at 9pm on Thursday, October 3rd.

The miners’ were stranded at about 10am Wednesday, October 2nd. With the help of an undamaged auxiliary elevator in the ventilation shaft. The cause of this mishap was later discovered the next day (October 4th). When a 50-foot section of an air compressed pipe and its concrete base broke, it fell straight down to the main shaft of the mine, causing the power cables to cut off, leaving no light whatsoever for the workers.

The accident was not announced until the evening of the incident, almost 10 hours after it occurred. The company sustained any action of bringing the workers up, they believed the workers would come up any minute or so.

This mine is one of the biggest gold deposits on the Earth. This mine intentionally, was not planned to be built as deep as it is today. In early 2001, the owner constructed another mine on top of the previous mine, costing them 90 million for adjustments. Just to attain the seven million pounds of gold said to be located in this part of the Earth.

Although all of the workers were safely returned to their homes in Carletonville, Africa, the South Africa’s Minerals and Energy Department closed the mine after the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa charged that the accident was the result of poor safety standards and Harmony’s practice of operating the mine around the clock.

Gold, rejected the charges, saying that the mine received an inspection every Saturday of the week. But the company’s chairman, Patrice Motsepe, said the accident underscored the need for more stringent safety efforts.

So now Mrs. Gold is receiving charges for undergoing such actions, and will be on trial for the next few months. No other charged has been pressed on Mrs. Gold.