Harmony Gold Mining Co.Share Price Drops after Mining Accident

Harmony Gold Mining Co.Share Price Drops after Mining Accident (Bloomberg)

Harmony Gold Mining Co. (NYSE: HMY) suffered a share-price drop of more than 5 percent Wednesday after announcing that nine of its employees are unaccounted at the Doornkop mine in South Africa due to a fire that broke out more than a mile underground. The fire began at about 6 p.m. local time Wednesday and rescue teams were sent underground to help but their progress has been hampered by smoke and “a fall of ground,” the Johannesburg-based company reported in a statement. However, eight miners who had been trapped initially were brought to the surface later in the day and the fire has been put out. The eight rescued miners will be kept under medical observation tonight as a precaution. Non-essential operations at the mine have been suspended. The stock closed at $2.67, down 5.32 percent.

Paul Dykewicz

Paul Dykewicz is the editor of StockInvestor.com and the editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C. He writes and edits for the website, as well as edits investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts and other reports published by Eagle. He also is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, USA Today and other publications, as well as served as business editor of a daily newspaper in Baltimore. In addition, Paul is the author of the inspirational book, "Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame's Championship Chaplain." He received his MBA in finance from Johns Hopkins University, where he was a two-time president of the school's Finance Club. In addition, Paul has a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a master's degree in journalism from Michigan State University. Outside of work, Paul volunteers with a faith-based organization to assist the poor in Southeast Washington, D.C., to learn personal finance skills to lift themselves out of debt.