3,000 Trapped in Mine in South Africa

Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Harmony Gold Mining Co., Africa's third-largest gold producer, rescued half the 3,200 workers trapped more than a mile underground at its Elandsrand mine in South Africa and expects to complete the operation by midday.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Rescue workers early Thursday evacuated the first 74 of about 3,000 miners trapped more than a mile underground by an accident. None of the miners were injured and the evacuation was expected to take about 10 hours.

There were no immediate reports of any injuries at Harmony Gold's Elandsrand Mine near Johannesburg. A company executive said officials have been in contact with the trapped workers and expect to rescue them over the next 24 hours.

Harmony's acting chief executive, Graham Briggs, said on MSNBC that the miners have been receiving food and water.

He said the rescuers would evacuate the miners over the next day using a small cage in another shaft, but the process would be a slow one.

More than 3,000 workers are trapped deep underground in a South African gold mine after an accident blocked a deep shaft, officials have said.

Rescuers are trying to use an adjacent shaft to rescue the miners, a spokeswoman for the mine's owner, Harmony Gold Mining, said.

The accident happened at about 0800 GMT and there has been no communication with the miners since then, she said.

The Elandsrand mine is in the Witwatersrand Basin, which holds the world's largest gold deposit.