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A car drives past the Sibanye Stillwater logo, as efforts continue to rescue mine workers trapped underground at one of its shafts at the Kloof gold mine, in Westonaria, Johannesburg, South Africa, May 23, 2025.
Sibanye says efforts to rescue 289 miners that are trapped underground at its Stillwater shafts near Johannesburg are still ongoing.
The mining company says workers were safe and gathered at an assembly point in the underground gold mine, one of the company’s deepest located around 60 km west of Johannesburg.
It did not provide details on the incident, though a Sibanye spokesperson confirmed it had occurred in the mine’s Kloof 7 shaft, adding that all the miners were accounted for and the company was providing them with food.
Safety procedures and an examination of the shaft were under way, the spokesperson added, after which the miners would be hoisted to the surface.
“We expect the situation to be resolved by about midday today,” the spokesperson said.
The Kloof mine, which accounts for 14% of Sibanye’s total gold output, also operates two other shafts.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) earlier said it had received reports of the incident, which it said happened at around 10pm on Thursday.
The precious metals producer is mining at depths of about 3 200 meters at the Kloof 7 shaft.
