Causes of the disaster
The production at the mine had increased from 134 230 tons per year in 1954 to 2 260 660 tons per year by 1958, in response to the newly built ''Taaibos'' power station at Kragbron. The accident was caused by cascading pillar failure where a few pillars fail initially and this increases the load on the adjacent pillars causing them to fail. ThisTop coaling
Top coaling began as a method of increasing production in areas that had already been mined. In 1932 the tunnels were 2.4 m high, in 1948 some top coaling was done to raise the height to 3.7 m, but the coal yielded was a poor grade and the practice stopped. In 1951 top coaling began once again as a new electricity power station had been built and it was able to use lower grade coal. The roof height was raised to 4.3 m and 5.5 m in places, and by 1957 top coaling was a significant contributor to production. Some time between 1957 and 1959 experimental secondary mining was done in No.10 section to recover coal from a mined out area of the mine. Top coaling raised the roof height to between 4.3 and 6.1 m. On 28 December 1959 a collapse occurred in the northern part of the section 10 mine, an area where most of the top coaling experiments were done. That collapse was stopped from spreading by a barrier wall to the south end of section 10. This incident did not affect coal extraction from the south. However, it did go unreported to mining inspectors. It is reported that in the afternoon of 21 January 1960 miners who were operating in the western part of the section 10 mine heard loud noises that were trailed by a strong blast wind that was coming from the south east section.Pillar and panel mining
The tunnels in the mine were between 6.1 and 6.7 metres wide. Pillars and panels of coal were left between the tunnels to keep the mine roof from collapsing. *In 1905 the centres of the barriers and the pillars were 24.4 m apart *From 1932 the pillars were mined to 19.8 m and barriers to 18.3 m. *From 1943 the pillars were reduced to 18.3 m and the barriers 12.2 m (still separated by tunnels 6.1 to 6.7 m in width) In this time "dummies" of 4 metres wide and 2 metres deep were mined out of the barriers, and in some cases up to four sides of the pillars too, to yield additional coal.Rescue efforts
With too muchResponse
In the months following the disaster, four different inquiries were launched under the Mines and Works Act of 1956, with the third one being a judicial inquest. The inquests found that the deaths occurred as a result of the subsidence of the mine itself. They also revealed that the collapse of 28 December was not reported to mining inspectors, as was mandatory. Following the disaster, the South African government established Coal Mines Research Controlling Council to improve coal mine safety and research pillar strength, supported by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Chamber of Mines Research Organization. The South African Chamber of Mines obtained rescue equipment to reach men trapped underground in coal mines. Similar equipment was used to rescue trapped Chilean miners in 2010.Compensation
With segregation being a policy of governance for the Apartheid regime, the Workmen Compensation Act entitled a white widow to her deceased husband’s pension fund, while a black widow was only granted a lump sum from the mining company. Of the miners killed in the tragedy, half of them came from the then British High Commission Territory of Basutoland, while a little under half of the others came from Portuguese East Africa. Of the deceased, six were white South African men. The disaster sent shockwaves across the nation, which prompted the government to set up the National Mine Disaster Fund.Commemorations
21 January 2020 will mark exactly 60 years since the disaster.References
External link
{{coord, 26.8531, S, 27.8790, E, source:wikidata, display=title Mining disasters in South Africa Coal in South Africa Mining in South Africa 1960 in South Africa 1960 mining disasters 1960 disasters in South Africa