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Former Lesotho gold miner Kalakune Marake registers with a legal clerk in a district office in Semongkong, 120 km (75 miles) east of the capital Maseru January 12, 2012. REUTERS/Ed CropleyJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s High Court on Friday gave the green light for a class action suit seeking damages from the gold mining sector on behalf of thousands of miners who contracted the fatal lung disease silicosis while working underground.
The court also allowed a class action to go ahead on behalf of miners who contracted tuberculosis in the mines.
The defendants in the case include Harmony Gold, Gold Fields, AngloGold Ashanti, Sibanye Gold, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Anglo American, which have formed the Occupational Lung Disease (OLD) Working Group to deal with such issues.