Connect with us

Solid Minerals

Illegal Mine Workers Refuse Rescue From Abandoned Mine

Published

on

JOHANNESBURG — Three illegal mine workers came up from an abandoned mine early Monday but scores of others refused, after a rescue operation started over the weekend to free those trapped underground.

More than 200 illegal miners are believed to be in the abandoned mine, many of them apparently fearing arrest if they come out. The situation has created a tense standoff between the miners below ground and the emergency workers and police trying to rescue them.

Emergency rescue service company ER24 said Sunday that police discovered the men stuck underground in an old ventilation tunnel after the police heard shouts during a patrol of the area, located east of Johannesburg near the area of Benoni. The emergency rescuers were able to open a hole to free the men, who said there were about 30 people near the surface and another 200 men further down. The rescue services haven’t been able to confirm the numbers. Large equipment was used to move boulders blocking a route underground.

Illegal Mine Workers Refuse Rescue From Abandoned MineAs the men were brought to the surface, police arrested them for illegal mining and those who remained underground then refused to come out. ER24 spokesman Werner Vermaak said the men could survive another two days underground but then would need to find access to food and water. Those who were brought to the surface late Sunday were in good health, he said.

The abandoned ventilation shaft is owned by Gold One International GLDZY +4.49% Ltd. The company has the right to prospect for gold in the area, but had sealed off the ventilation shaft with a cement slab. Gold One spokesman Grant Stuart said illegal miners dug a hold around the cement slab, which had collapsed behind them. Mr. Stuart said two more of the illegal miners had started to come up overnight but saw security and went back underground.

Illegal mining in the area is rife and extremely dangerous. “If they don’t go down our shaft, they will go down other shafts,” said Mr. Stuart.

South Africa, once the world’s largest gold producer, has shut many old mines around Johannesburg. Illegal mining has increased at abandoned gold mines near Johannesburg, the Department of Mineral Resources said in September. In 2010, South Africa’s minister of mineral resources, Susan Shabangu , estimated the country loses around 5.6 billion rand ($516 million) a year due to illegal mining and she has launched a committee to look into how to reduce illegal mining.

The illegal mining deaths Sunday are the most since 2009, when 82 people died after a fire broke out at an unused Harmony Gold Mining Co. mine.

South Africa isn’t the only country where illegal gold mining is a problem. People prospect for gold at mines in Ghana and the Congo. In South Africa, it is particularly dangerous because the abandoned mines are deep, going underground in some cases for hundreds of feet. Because the mines are no longer in use, the old shafts aren’t monitored. Many groups of illegal miners also sneak into operational mines, posing a risk to company employees.

In 2010, Ms. Shabangu said illegal mining by criminal syndicates made it hard to eradicate the problem.

– MARKET WATCH

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Business

Nigeria set to boost Naira value and foreign reserve with local gold production, as Tinubu receives gold bar

Published

on

IN  a significant move to strengthen Nigeria’s economy, President Bola Tinubu received a symbolic gold bar on Sunday from the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.

This gesture marks the commencement of the National Gold Purchase Program (NGPP), aimed at boosting the naira’s value and enhancing the country’s foreign reserves.

Minister Alake expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for his support of reforms in the solid minerals sector.

He highlighted that the NGPP, which involves sourcing gold from artisanal and small-scale miners and refining it to meet the London Bullion Market Association’s Good Delivery Standard, will substantially contribute to Nigeria’s economic stability.

Alake stated “This initiative will significantly increase our foreign reserves and strengthen the naira. The refined gold will be supplied to the Central Bank of Nigeria, marking a crucial step in our economic strategy.”

The presentation also underscored the first commercial transaction under the NGPP, establishing a centralized gold purchasing system that integrates small-scale miners, cooperatives, and production units across the nation.

This program is expected to provide a structured market for gold, fostering economic growth and stability.

He said, The successful completion of the first commercial transaction clearly demonstrates the National Gold Purchase Program’s effectiveness. It has increased the nation’s foreign reserves assets and shown that using the Nigerian Naira to purchase a liquid asset traded in United States Dollars, such as gold, is a viable strategy. This transaction has also underscored the potential of the National Gold Purchase Program to enhance fiscal and monetary stability.”

Alake added that the initial commercial transaction under the program resulted in a +US$5 million boost in Nigeria’s foreign reserve assets.

The transaction involved refining over 70 kilograms of gold to meet the London Bullion Market quality standard and aggregating locally mined gold, thereby infusing approximately NGN6 billion into the rural economy.

President Tinubu expressed appreciation for the Ministry’s accomplishment in advancing the government’s goal of economic diversification by acknowledging and displaying the symbolic gold bar

Continue Reading

Solid Minerals

FG Fingers Foreigners Sponsoring Banditry For Illegal Mining

Published

on

The Nigerian Government has threatened to come down heavily on foreigners sponsoring bandictory as a way of sustaining illegal mining activities in parts of the country.

The warning was handed down in Abuja by Minister, Solid Minerals Development, Dr Oladele Alake, while receiving a delegation of the Nigeria-China Chamber of Mines led by its National President, Dr. Olugbenga Ajala.

Details of these were contained in a statement released by Head, Press & PR, Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Alaba Balogun over the weekend.

The statement cited, Dr Alake, thus, “The government will come down firmly on these unscrupulous foreign operators sponsoring banditry to perpetrate illegal mining: let me use this medium to appeal through you to tell those sponsors to desist or face the full wrath of the law.”

According to Dr Alake, the Ministry is committed to establishing a multi-agency task force that will end the activities of illegal miners and their collaborators.

The Minster made it clear that the FG had given illegal miners a 30-day-ultimatum to legitimise their businesses, quit Nigeria or incur the wrath of the law.

According to him, this will help “to streamline and structure the Small-Scale Artisanal Miners for maximum yield to the Federal Government.”

The delegation paid a courtesy call on the Minsiter at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

Continue Reading

Energy

Fuel Scarcity: Govt Yet to Increase Pump Prices – NMDPRA

Published

on

A long queue at an NNPC fuel station

By Edozie Obasi-Eze

 

Amidst heightening uncertainties in the domestic petroleum products market characterised by scarcity and irregular pricing, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has declared that there’s no intention to review pump prices upwards.

This was contained in an advisory issued by General Manager, Corporate Communications, NMDPRA, Kimchi Apollo.

He stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) had imported PMS with current stock levels sufficient for 34 days.

In an attempt to address panic buying and speculations which have seen price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) oscillate between N180-N250 in the Lagos area, Apollo assured that there was enough quantity of the product in the country already.

He said, “Consequently, marketers and the general public are advised to avoid panic buying, diversion of products and hoarding.

“In keeping with the Authority’s responsibilities as outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Authority assures the public that it would continue to monitor the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide, especially during this holiday season.”

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2022. Biztellers, powered by Alphaxristi.