Explosion at Tronox Empangeni operation

THE mystery surrounding the loud bang and rumbling sound that was heard by many residents in and around Empangeni over the weekend has been solved.

This follows questions from residents who were woken up by sirens followed by rumbling noises in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The mysterious noise caused confusion and speculation that it could have been a tremor or a possible explosion at Tronox KZN Sands.

Tronox, however, confirmed to the ZO on Wednesday that there was an explosion at its processing plant in Empangeni.

"There was a slag block explosion on Sunday morning at around 1am at our slag block yard, CPC," said the company spokesperson.

"No employees were injured and [there was] no serious damage to the TLB machine transporting the slag block. The machine was immediately back in operation after the explosion.

"Additionally, Tronox KZN Sands did not activate any sirens."

According to the company, a slag block explosion could occur when 'the slag is transported and off-loaded without a complete solidification of molten metal in the core of the slag block'.

"This can also occur when a hot slag block comes into contact with water," said the spokesperson.

She said an investigation is immediately instituted when such incidents occur.

"Incidents of this nature are registered in our incident management systems.

"They are immediately communicated to employees and an investigation process is initiated. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the lessons from the investigation are shared with employees, and an action plan is developed and implemented to close identified gaps," she said.