South African operator Harmony Gold has confirmed the deaths of four of its employees after an incident at its Kusasalethu operation in the Gauteng province.
Officials said 9 May the event near Carletonville was an “infrastructure maintenance-related incident” but did not provide further details.
It also did not identify the names or positions of any of the four killed on Saturday, 7 May. The company has, however, been in touch with all impacted families.
Following the immediate notification of the incident to authorities, Harmony closed the impacted area pending an investigation.
“We are deeply saddened by this incident. At Harmony, we view our employees as part of the larger family. Our priority is now to support the families of the deceased, and everyone affected by this tragedy,” said CEO Peter Steenkamp.
Kusasalethu, a deep-level mine, is located near the Gauteng-North West provincial border and has a remaining life of mine estimated at three years.
It employs 4,260, 496 of which are contractors, and produced 3,999 kilograms of gold in fiscal year 2020. Ore mined is treated at the Kusasalethu plant.
Source: Harmony Gold