adinfinitum
A Disturbance in the Force
Hi there! I'm afraid that I'm unable to visit online as frequently as I'd like to, so I'm a little behind the times with this. However, I think that the following article from the Natal Mercury Business Report makes for an interesting postscript to these SOTT articles: Harmony says 3,200 South African gold miners trapped; Rescuers lift 150 trapped South Africa miners to surface; and Last of 3,200 trapped South African miners saved.
Harmony slow to put public in the picture
October 5, 2007
By Justin Brown
Johannesburg - Embattled mining group Harmony Gold took almost 24 hours to formally announce that 3 200 of its miners had been trapped underground at one of its key mines on Wednesday.
The mining firm delayed the announcement until long after the JSE [Johannesburg Stock Exchange] had closed on Wednesday.
This is not the first time Harmony has dragged its feet announcing a safety hazard at its operations.
Last month the company took more than a week to make a formal announcement about a fire at its St Helena mine in the Free State.
Amelia Soares, a Harmony spokesperson, told Business Report yesterday that she had known about the accident at the Elandsrand mine near Carletonville from about 2pm on Wednesday.
However, she said a decision had been taken not to put out an announcement about the trapped workers while management tried to use the mine's second shaft to hoist them to the surface. No casualties were reported by late yesterday.
Soares denied that the timing of the company's announcement had been planned to take place after the JSE close, to avoid any effect on Harmony's share price, which took a 30 percent knock at the end of August following an exodus of mining executives, including former chief executive Bernard Swanepoel.
Explaining the delayed announcement in the case of the St Helena incident, Soares said it was because the fire - which is still burning - had taken place in an unused portion of the operations.
She added that Harmony only disclosed events such as fires in its quarterly reports.
Lizelle du Toit, a Harmony spokesperson, said the Elandsrand accident was likely to close the mine for three to six weeks.
A Johannesburg analyst said a closure of that length could result in the loss of more than 20 000 ounces of gold worth a total of R96 million.
The Elandsrand mine generated R157 million in cash profit and almost 8 percent of Harmony's total output in the year to June.
The mine shutdown is also likely to hit Harmony's expansion project, which has a budget of R153 million.
The accident has raised questions about whether Harmony has done proper maintenance at Elandsrand, although the company said the affected shaft was inspected as recently as last Saturday.
In another development, Harmony yesterday hid the terms of a R2 billion loan.
The company's lack of disclosure of the terms of the Nedbank loan raised questions among analysts about whether Harmony would be able to comfortably service the interest and the final repayment at the end of 2009.
Frank Abbott, Harmony's acting financial director, said the group would not be making public the terms of the loan until its September quarterly announcement on October 29.
Harmony slow to put public in the picture
October 5, 2007
By Justin Brown
Johannesburg - Embattled mining group Harmony Gold took almost 24 hours to formally announce that 3 200 of its miners had been trapped underground at one of its key mines on Wednesday.
The mining firm delayed the announcement until long after the JSE [Johannesburg Stock Exchange] had closed on Wednesday.
This is not the first time Harmony has dragged its feet announcing a safety hazard at its operations.
Last month the company took more than a week to make a formal announcement about a fire at its St Helena mine in the Free State.
Amelia Soares, a Harmony spokesperson, told Business Report yesterday that she had known about the accident at the Elandsrand mine near Carletonville from about 2pm on Wednesday.
However, she said a decision had been taken not to put out an announcement about the trapped workers while management tried to use the mine's second shaft to hoist them to the surface. No casualties were reported by late yesterday.
Soares denied that the timing of the company's announcement had been planned to take place after the JSE close, to avoid any effect on Harmony's share price, which took a 30 percent knock at the end of August following an exodus of mining executives, including former chief executive Bernard Swanepoel.
Explaining the delayed announcement in the case of the St Helena incident, Soares said it was because the fire - which is still burning - had taken place in an unused portion of the operations.
She added that Harmony only disclosed events such as fires in its quarterly reports.
Lizelle du Toit, a Harmony spokesperson, said the Elandsrand accident was likely to close the mine for three to six weeks.
A Johannesburg analyst said a closure of that length could result in the loss of more than 20 000 ounces of gold worth a total of R96 million.
The Elandsrand mine generated R157 million in cash profit and almost 8 percent of Harmony's total output in the year to June.
The mine shutdown is also likely to hit Harmony's expansion project, which has a budget of R153 million.
The accident has raised questions about whether Harmony has done proper maintenance at Elandsrand, although the company said the affected shaft was inspected as recently as last Saturday.
In another development, Harmony yesterday hid the terms of a R2 billion loan.
The company's lack of disclosure of the terms of the Nedbank loan raised questions among analysts about whether Harmony would be able to comfortably service the interest and the final repayment at the end of 2009.
Frank Abbott, Harmony's acting financial director, said the group would not be making public the terms of the loan until its September quarterly announcement on October 29.
