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Accident at Springs mine leaves one employee dead

An accident at a mine in Springs, Gauteng, has left one man dead. The accident, which took place at Gold 1 Modder East mine on Friday, saw a mine employee crushed in a scaler, according to a fatality notification that News24 has seen.

The incident has been confirmed by the Mineral Resources and Energy Department. The employee's body was retrieved and handed over to the police.

"The department is aware of the accident and is investigating it in terms of the Mine Health and Safety Act. It would be premature to speculate on causes at this stage," Mineral Resources and Energy spokesperson Ayanda Shezi told News24.

A source with knowledge of the mine has indicated that the employee would not be deemed essential worker under regulations in place due to the national lockdown. However, this was not confirmed by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.

Under the national lockdown, the department issued guidelines to mines to manage and reduce the risk of Covid-19 spread. These include reducing the number of employees on shift and on common transport.

Mining operations have been scaled down significantly, particularly deep-level mining, including the gold, chrome and manganese sectors. Only essential services supporting the sector, including security and related infrastructure, maintenance, water pumping, refrigeration and ventilation will continue.

The only mines exempt are those essential to energy production, such as those supplying coal to Eskom.

There are currently three confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the mining and energy sectors - one each in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape.

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