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ELANDSRAND MINE, South Africa - Rescue teams brought the first 450 miners out of 3,200 trapped deep underground in a South African gold mine to the surface early on Thursday, mine and union officials said.
Mine owner Harmony Gold said the rescue operation, which brought up the first miners after a 15-hour ordeal, was going smoothly, but the powerful mining union said it suspected negligence was behind the accident that trapped the workers.
Chief Executive Officer Graham Briggs said he was confident all the miners would be lifted to the surface in a small elevator at the Elandsrand mine near Carletonville, southwest of Johannesburg.
"There have been no injuries or deaths ... It may take as long as 10 hours, the cage (lift) is travelling fairly slowly to avoid risks ... I'm very confident all will come out," Briggs said.
But the powerful National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it suspected negligence and Harmony's practice of mining 24 hours per day caused the accident.
"We suspect negligence. Because of continuous operations there is no time to make adequate checks," NUM President Senzeni Zokwana told reporters.
The first miners emerged at around 12.30 pm NZT, after being trapped 2.2 km (1.4 miles) underground for over 15 hours. Between 150 and 200 women miners were among those underground.
"I feel happy to be on the surface. it was hot, dusty and I am quite hungry now," said 27-year-old Zandile Sindiwe, as he walked out of the elevator into a cold, windy night.
An NUM spokesman said earlier that the miners were trapped in a cramped space where temperatures could reach 30 to 40 degrees Celsius (86-104 Fahrenheit).
Briggs said production at the mine had been halted and would remain shut down until an investigation had been carried out and the damage repaired.
The miners were caught after an air pipe broke off and hurtled down the shaft propelled by compressed air, damaging steelwork and severing an electrical cable carrying power to the main lift, Briggs said.
Rescuers were in contact with the trapped miners and clean air and water were being pumped down to them, Briggs said. "It's a very serious incident, but it's under control," he added. They were using a small lift close to the main elevator.
South African gold mines are the deepest in the world and unions have often criticised companies for not doing enough to ensure workers' safety.
Gold mine operations have come under scrutiny over the past few months following a series of accidents as gold producers mine ever deeper to offset lower production and reap the benefits of a sharply higher bullion price.
Gold output in South Africa, the world's biggest gold producer, has tumbled by over 50 per cent over the past decade, as high-grade mines run out of ore and firms grapple with more difficult and high-cost underground operations.
The government briefly closed an AngloGold Ashanti mine in July after two miners were killed in a rock fall.
Harmony bought the Elandsrand mine and nearby Deelkraal operations from rival AngloGold Ashanti in 2001. At the time production was declining and Harmony saw potential in digging a new mine underneath the old one.
Harmony, which employs around 44,000 people and produced 2.4 million ounces of gold in 2006, expects to complete the new Elandsrand mine by 2011 and to mine it for a further 18 years.
- REUTERS
