Final resting place unless cash raised
STUCK under millions of tons of rock, three workers at the Lily Mine could be trapped forever in a shipping container that has become their coffin.
Experts have devised an elaborate, R130-million plan to reach the bodies of Pretty Nkambule, Solomon Nyerenda and Yvonne Mnisi. The bodies have lain 40m underground since the mine, near Barberton in Mpumalanga, collapsed a year ago today.
The plan requires digging a 350m tunnel from the entrance of a new mine to the area where the container is believed to lie.
The tunnel would need to be 3m wide and 2m high, big enough for trucks and heavy machinery.
The equipment would be necessary to break through and remove tons of rock.
If this was successful, it would get teams to about 10m below the container.
They would then still have to dig upwards to find the container.
Only if this was achieved could the container be dropped into the tunnel and brought to the surface.
It’s a complicated plan, and almost everything is against it.
The earth has shifted since the mine collapsed and, as a result, the exact location of the container is unknown.
The search area in which the container is believed to be is the size of a rugby field and even if it is found, it might have been crushed by the weight of the rock.
On top of this, the R200million needed to fund the recovery and reopen the mine is still far from being raised.
Construction of the tunnel will take about nine months and is nowhere close to beginning.
These challenges do not factor in what it will be like underground for rescuers working in dark, humid and dangerous conditions.
The bodies might never be brought to the surface.
“We will not risk a life to retrieve a body,” said Rob Devereux, the director of Sturns, the company tasked with the mine’s business rescue plan.
“If it is too dangerous, we won’t retrieve the container.
“One must accept that the miners are now passed. There is a huge possibility that the container will not be retrieved as there is a significant danger of rock fall in the area. The situation will be assessed when we have access to the area.”
The challenges will not prevent the rescue teams from trying to bring closure to the victims’ families.
If there is a chance of getting the bodies to the surface, Devereux is confident that this plan can make it happen.
“We will do our best. The plan has been developed by the mine management, who have the necessary specialists in the fields of mining engineering, geology and mine design.
“The development has been in conjunction with, and vetted by, external companies Bara Consulting and SRK rock engineers. The Department of Mineral Resources has also been actively involved,” he said.
However, even as the plans await the go-ahead, all is not well at the mine, which was the scene of a major protest on Friday.
A planned memorial service for today had to be cancelled at the eleventh hour because of rumours that disgruntled groups would block the mine entrance and prevent dignitaries from attending.
Cosatu described the memorial as futile, while the National Union of Mineworkers said it would boycott the event.
We will not risk a life to retrieve a body. If it’s too dangerous we won’t retrieve the container