Fatality at Harmony Gold’s Tshepong mine

An employee has been killed at Harmony Gold’s (NYSE:HMY) Tshepong mine in South Africa, the company reported on Friday. 

The miner was fatally injured after a fall of ground incident – the collapse of mine walls or ceiling.

All operations in the section have been stopped as an investigation is underway.

Harmony CEO Graham Briggs and his management team expressed “their deepest condolences to the members of the deceased’s family for the loss of their loved one.”

Fall of ground fatalities are a common cause of death in South Africa’s underground mining operations. They represented 30% of all mining fatalities in the industry in 2011, according to a Chamber of Mines report. 

Tshepong’s safety record on Harmony’s website shows that there were two fatalities in 2011.