100,000 South African Miners Sue Ashanti Buyer

Anglo American is facing a multimillion-pound lawsuit from South African gold miners who claim they contracted respiratory diseases while working for the mining giant [which is trying to buy Ghana's Ashanti Goldfields through its subsidiary, AgloGold].

Up to 100,000 apartheid-era workers may have fallen ill through breathing silica dust in the gold mines, which can lead to debilitating diseases including lung cancer, according to Leigh Day & Co, the London law firm that is piloting the claim.

Richard Meeran of Leigh Day accused Anglo last week of failing to provide basic protection and 'accumulating massive wealth at the expense of workers' health, taking full advantage of the apartheid system'.

The silicosis claim - echoing asbestos-related litigation against Cape and others, which resulted in big payouts for victims - comes at a bad time for Anglo. The company, listed in London, is already among a number of corporations accused in separate lawsuits of collaborating with South Africa's racist regime in the 1970s and 1980s. It is fighting those suits.

Harmony and Gold Fields, two other gold-mining firms, are also to be targeted in the silicosis claim. All the companies deny wrongdoing.

An Anglo spokesperson said: 'After careful consideration, the company does not believe it is in any way liable and will defend any legal proceedings which are brought against it.'