18th Jul 2016 06:49
LONDON (Alliance News) - DiamondCorp PLC on Monday said underground mining operations have been suspended at the Lace mine in South Africa after an incident led to an employee being hospitalised, but said there is "no material financial impact" to the company as a result.
The miner said the suspension followed on from an investigation last Friday by the Department of Minerals Resources into a "fall of ground incident" in a development tunnel on the 310.0 metre level.
"The incident occurred when explosive misfires were being made safe and resulted in a miner's assistant suffering contusions and four cracked ribs. He was hospitalised for observation and is in a stable condition," said the miner.
Authorities instructed DiamondCorp to ensure all miner's assistants refreshed their training on handling and charging up explosives, and the company started training over the weekend and expects that to be completed by this Wednesday.
Once re-certified, DiamondCorp will be able to reapply for underground mining operations to resume, which is "expected by the end of this week", the miner said.
Although mining operations are suspended, the plant at the project will continue to process tailings in the meantime.
"There is no material financial impact as a result of the temporary suspension, but DiamondCorp will not be able to mine the target of 30,000 tonnes of ore in July. Management expect to achieve this rate in August and will aim to make up the July shortfall by the end of September," said the company.
"The company is pleased that the incident did not result in any more serious or life threatening injuries and reiterates that safety is its top priority. Lace management is fully supportive of the refresher training," the company added.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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