Jagersfontein Developments, the owner of a mine waste dam that partially collapsed two weeks ago, denied on Wednesday that another dam wall had collapsed, contradicting a statement from the Free State government.
“There has been no further breach of any kind at the facility,” the company said, adding reports about a further collapse are “unfounded and untrue”.
After rain on Sunday and Monday, stormwater is flowing in areas where mine waste has spilt, Jagersfontein Developments said, and government officials were on site with the company on Tuesday to deal with flows through an adjacent dam.
The provincial government late on Tuesday said another mine dam wall had collapsed, adding it was still trying to establish the extent of the water flow and emergency crews were at the scene.
The tailings dam collapse on September 11, unleashing a flood of grey sludge that swept away houses and cars, leaving one person dead and scores injured.
The day after the collapse, the department of water and sanitation authorised Jagersfontein Developments to pump mine waste from a second compartment of the dam into the historic Jagersfontein diamond mine pit, a process the company said on Wednesday it had started.
Reuters
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