12 miners trapped underground at Prestea

Prestea (W/R), Sept. 20 GNA - Twelve miners of the Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea) Limited were last week trapped underground for more than twelve hours at Prestea.

The miners were, however, rescued through another shaft without a record of injury.

The incident took place when rocks fell on the 'cages', which carry the miners to and from underground through a shaft. In a release signed by Mr Collins J. S. Belshaw, Acting General Manager, Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea) Limited, said on Wednesday September 13, 2006 at approximately 1130 hours, a serious incident happened at Bondaye Main shaft, which is situated five kilometres south of Prestea.

It said the incident occurred as a result of illegal underground blasting activity being carried out by illegal mining operations, popularly known as Galamsey, going on, which is very close to the Bondaye Shaft.

The release said the effect of the blast dislodged large rocks from the sidewall of the shaft, causing extensive damage to the shaft support steelwork and the guides on which the 'cages' run.

The 'balanced cages' below, collapsed, when the blast took place and the extent of the damage to the cages was unknown. However, it was miraculous that the cages were not in motion or carrying men when the incident occurred.

Had the cages been moving and loaded with men, this could have resulted in a catastrophic loss of lives. In the event, no injuries occurred, although the shaft is now entirely out of commission, Mr Belshaw said.

He said there were men working underground at Bondaye at the time and they had to be evacuated through the Central Shaft, situated on the edge of the town of Prestea.

Mr Belsahaw said this required the men to undertake an arduous five kilometre walk through old workings. Their evacuation was conducted with the assistance of Golden Star's mine rescue team, who guided the men back to Central shaft and safety.

Also of serious concern was the loss of pumping capability as a result of this incident, 50 per cent of the water pumping capability required to keep the underground workings dry between Prestea and Bondaye was located at Bondaye, without which water levels within the mine would have begun to rise.

Following the incident, the Mining Manager, Mr. Neil Ringdahl, and the Underground Manager, Mr Sam Agyemang, travelled down the shaft ladder way in order to inspect the extent of the damage.

Whilst doing this, further illegal blasting took place, endangering their lives and the lives of the men accompanying them, he said. Mr Belshaw said the Ghana security agencies were immediately contacted and their assistance was requested in removing those carrying out the illegal blasting and mining activity.

Their combined response was immediate and impressively effective, he added.

The repairs on the Bondaye Shaft would be time consuming, expensive, and potentially hazardous, but when the lives of Golden Star's employees were will fully threatened by illegal mining activity, it was time for serious action to be taken to remove them, the acting General Manager said

"Further, this incident irrefutably demonstrates the danger that illegal mining poses to legitimate underground mining operations, and that Golden Star has taken the stance that underground mining would not resume at Prestea, unless illegal mining activity in the vicinity is stopped". The release added. 20 Sept. 06