Harmony, the world’s fifth- biggest gold producer, said repairs at the mine, where more than 3000 miners were trapped underground for more than a day, would be completed by November 12 and production would restart on November 19.

The estimated production shortfall is much higher than one provided on Wednesday, when the mine manager estimated that around 600kg of gold would be lost.

The miners were trapped 2.2km underground after an electricity cable to the mine’s main lift was severed, stranding the workforce, which included around 200 women.

The miners were stuck in a cramped space in the mine, where temperatures were believed at times to have reached 40 °C .

The accident prompted President Thabo Mbeki to order that all mines in South Africa, home to some of the world’s deepest mines, be checked for safety.

Harmony said on Friday it had appointed a team to do a thorough investigation and analysis of the events that led up to the accident.

In the meantime, rival miner Gold Fields Ltd said on Friday it would sell its Venezuelan assets to Rusoro Mining Ltd for about 502-million in cash and shares.

Including debt, the deal is worth about 532-million, the company said in a statement.

The 140 million Rusoro shares that are part of the deal will represent about 38% of the Canada-based company after the deal goes through.

The deal includes Choco 10 mine in Bolivar state, which has been in operation since 2006.

“Additional capital investment is required to realise the full potential of the Choco 10 gold mine,” Gold Fields chief executive Ian Cockerill said in a statement. “However, after careful consideration we have concluded that, given the current environment, this investment is better made by others, with Gold Fields retaining exposure to the upside inherent in the assets.”

Rusoro said it would use its experience in Venezuela “to resolve hurdles encountered by Gold Fields at Choco 10”.