Thursday, 10th March 2005 (2574 views)

South Africa has been hit by an earthquake registering 5.0 on the Richter scale, causing problems for the major mining firms in the area.

The epicentre was near the town of Stilfontein, which lies south-west of Johannesburg, with gold producers facing the biggest difficulties in the wake of the quake.

Injuries were reported at the gold mining company DRDGOLD, with 42 miners said to be trapped in collapsed tunnels and one man reported dead.

"Some of the access tunnels have been closed by fallen rock . . . the guys are digging like mad at the moment trying to get to them," DRDGOLD spokesman Ilja Graulich told Reuters.

The earthquake had a far-reaching impact, causing tremors even in Johannesburg, as platinum and gold producers in the resources-rich country sought to cope with its effects.

Mining firms in the area typically have seismic monitoring systems to provide some advance warning of potential quakes - which are common in underground mines - but the Council for Geoscience said that Wednesday's activity was unusually large.

The council's Ian Saunders explained: "It is difficult to determine the cause. The magnitude tells us that it is most probably a re-activation of an old fault . . . a secondary effect of mining."

Further news on the potential impact on mining operations in the region is expected to emerge today.

 

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