Gold Fields accident traps worker, another missing

JOHANNESBURG, March 4 (Reuters) - South Africa's Gold Fields (GFIJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday that rescue efforts were underway after one employee remained pinned under rocks and another was still missing after an accident at its Beatrix mine.

The company said in a statement that the incident occured after a fall of ground in a stope 750 metres below the surface at the No. 1 shaft of the mine in the Free State.

Gold Fields is the world's fourth-largest gold miner,

"The accident occurred shortly before (0900 GMT) 11 am. The person trapped is a surveyor who was carrying out his duties in the underground working area when the fall of ground took place. The missing employee is a team leader who was assisting the surveyor," it said.

"Mining of the immediate area has been halted while the rescue operation takes place."

Company spokesman Andrew Davidson told Reuters that lost output was not an "immediate" concern and that production was only halted in a very small area of the shaft. (Reporting by Michael Georgy, Editing by Peter Blackburn)