Mineworkers have finally got the go-ahead to launch a class action suit against gold mining companies.On Friday, the High Court in Johannesburg ruled that the miners, who developed silicosis after years of breathing in dust particles while working underground, could pursue the case.The class action, which seeks damages on behalf of former mineworkers who developed lung diseases such as tuberculosis and silicosis, was a "game-changer" and "historic", said Charles Abrahams of Abrahams Kiewitz Attorneys, who represents the miners.This will be the first class action suit in South Africa's mining history.Given that the miners were too poor to afford a lawyer, the court's judgment was a step in the right direction for South African law, said Abrahams."This case is building on a jurisprudence that is emerging in South African law," he said .On Friday, the court found that pursuing a class action suit would save time and money for everyone involved in the case.Georgina Jephson at Richard Spoor Attorneys, another law firm representing mineworkers in the class action, said the case would add more value to an area of law "which to date has been quite limited".Abrahams said pursuing a class action suit did not diminish the damage caused to each worker but would ensure that the common issues across all gold mining companies with regard to lung diseases would be addressed.The first stage of the class action suit would be to address common issues.The second would focus on the individual mining companies and how the miners were affected."The macro as well as the micro conditions faced by miners will emerge."The judgment also said that if a settlement were to be reached outside court between the mineworkers and the companies, the court would first have to approve it.The companies that could face a hefty compensation bill if the mineworkers are successful with the suit include Anglo American South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti and 30 others, many of which are no longer producing gold.However, the Chamber of Mines said on Friday that if the mineworkers were successful, the amount the mining companies would have to pay would still have to be determined and would depend on a whole range of factors.Abrahams said the number of mineworkers who would join the class action was unknown, but it was a significant one of more than 500,000."There are a lot of miners with lung diseases; they can be anywhere between 500,000 and 700,000, but some push the figure up to over a million."Silicosis has resulted in the deaths of many mineworkers in the 100-plus years that gold has been mined in South Africa. The class action, however, only applies to claims going back to 1965.It is a historical legacy, but attempts were being made because of it to reduce silicosis, Abrahams said, adding that it was not in the best interests of mining companies to perpetuate these conditions.Two months ago, Anglo American South Africa and AngloGold Ashanti announced in a separate case that they had agreed to pay 4365 former employees about R500-million to settle silicosis-related claims.The Chamber of Mines said on Friday that this case had been settled and the mineworkers who were compensated as part of the claim could nottake part in the class action suit.Jephson said the best way forward was for the lawyers to reach an agreement according to which mineworkers are fairly compensated.Mineworkers have until January next year to decide whether they would like to be part of the class action suit.mtonganal@sundaytimes.co.za..