Five miners trapped when a mudslide flooded the Ekapa Mine shaft in Kimberley, in South Africa’s Northern Cape province, were described by the operation’s owners as “now presumed deceased,” and the companies moved to close the mine and seek liquidation, according to a statement carried by AP on Feb. 25.
The companies said the incident began in the early hours of Feb. 17, when a sudden surge of water, mud and rock inundated an underground section of the mine and blocked access to its lowest mining level, located around 800 meters (about half a mile) underground. They said rescue efforts continued after the flooding, including drilling and assessments by specialist teams.
Ekapa Resources and Ekapa Minerals said the conditions inside the mine were confirmed to be “unsurvivable.” The owners said tunnels were filled with mud and water and that there were no signs of life, even as a search operation remained underway at the time of the announcement.
At the same time, the companies said they were shutting the Ekapa Mine immediately and petitioning the courts to place the firm in liquidation. In their explanation, they pointed to an internal evaluation that concluded the company could not continue meeting its financial responsibilities amid a prolonged worldwide diamond market downturn, which they said was exacerbated by the tragedy.
CEO Jahn Hohne said the closure marked the end of the mine’s long-running role in Kimberley’s diamond industry, describing it as “the end of 158 years of continuous diamond mining in Kimberley” and adding that the company acknowledged that legacy with “humility and respect.”
The National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa, described by AP as the largest single trade union in South Africa, said it was “shocked” by the decision and that it could jeopardize roughly 1,200 jobs. Numsa Kimberley organizer Lerato Mohatlane told South Africa’s state broadcaster SABC that if the mine was liquidated, “it is clear that all the 1,200 workers will then lose their jobs,” and the union said it would meet with its legal teams to explore whether it could block the liquidation.
South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said it was set to meet with the company and receive a briefing on what happened and potential next steps following the mudslide, mine closure and liquidation filing, AP reported.