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Fire at Impala Rustenburg 14 Shaft
IMPALA PLATINUM HOLDINGS LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1957/001979/06)
JSE Share code: IMP
ISIN: ZAE000083648
ADR code: IMPUY
(“Implats”)
Fire at Impala Rustenburg 14 Shaft
Implats regrets to announce that four employees have lost their lives following a fire, which occurred
underground at Impala Rustenburg’s 14 Shaft on 22 January 2016. The fire was detected during the
night shift of Friday, 22 January 2016, employees were immediately stopped from proceeding
underground and the teams working underground were evacuated from the various areas of the shaft.
However, four employees were reported missing and an immediate search and rescue operation was
initiated. Sadly, the bodies of the four missing employees were discovered by one of the search and
rescue teams during the late afternoon of Saturday, 23 January 2016. The four employees were
overcome by fumes while they were trying to find their way to safety.
Mine management is continuing its engagement with the families of the deceased and providing the
support and assistance required at this very difficult time. The Minister of Mineral Resources, the
Honourable Mr Mosebenzi Joseph Zwane, was in attendance at the mine during the afternoon of
Sunday, 24 January 2016 to obtain a full report from mine management. Minster Zwane also met
with the deceased employees’ families before addressing the media about this tragedy where he said,
“We need to navigate our way through this tragedy and ‘take hands’ in solving the issue without
blame in an honest way to avoid similar incidents”.
The detailed investigation is continuing to assess the cause of the fire and the damage that has
resulted. The fire has reportedly now been extinguished and the six rescue and assessment teams,
which are working in the lower reaches of the mine where the fire started, are clearing residual smoke
in certain areas. The telemetry systems on the shaft is showing that gas readings have reduced
appreciably as measured at the two primary surface ventilation fans. The system shows that the
upper section of the mine is clear, but power has not as yet been restored to the bottom section of the
shaft area.
It is too early to assess the effect on production at this stage.
Implats’ CEO, Terence Goodlace, commented, “This is a tragic loss for everybody and our heart-felt
condolences are with the families of the deceased. We are all deeply mourning the loss of our
colleagues and wish to express our most sincere sympathies to the various stakeholders affected by
this tragedy. The support we are receiving from the neighbouring mining community, including the
other operations, the Department of Mineral Resources, other levels of government and the
leadership of the respective unions is gratefully appreciated. My personal gratitude and appreciation
is also extended to the many people at Impala Rustenburg that have been working tirelessly through
this difficult and demanding time”.
Additional information will be provided to all stakeholders on a regular basis.
Ends
Queries:
Johan Theron
E-mail: johan.theron@implats.co.za
T: +27 (0) 11 731 9013/43
M: +27 (0) 82 809 0166
Alice Lourens
E-mail: alice.lourens@implats.co.za
T: +27 (0) 11 731 9033/43
M: +27 (0) 82 498 3608
25 January 2016
Johannesburg
Sponsor to Implats
Deutsche Securities (SA) Proprietary Limited
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