Harmony cuts food to tackle gangs

摘要

One of South Africa's biggest gold firms has taken the drastic step of banning all food underground to cut supply lines to gangs of illegal miners used to staying deep in the mines for months on end, threatening lives and official production.With gold mining around Welkom, 200km south of Johannesburg, dating back to the 1930s, the bedrock is criss-crossed by a myriad network of tunnels that provide perfect cover and multiple entry points for illegal miners.Bosses of Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd's 2.4km deep Phakisa mine - one of the world's deepest - have tried blocking up old shafts and installing stadium-style turnstiles at the top of the main shaft to stop imposters slipping through.