Sixty bodies retrieved from Stilfontein

Rescued miners are seen as they are processed by police after being rescued at the mine shaft where rescue operations are ongoing as attempts are made to rescue illegal miners who have been underground for months, in Stilfontein. Source: Reuters/Ihsaan Haffejee

On Monday, authorities used a metal cage to begin recovering men and bodies from the shaft, in an operation expected to run for days.

"We don't know exactly how many people are remaining there," Police Minister Senzo Mchunu told broadcaster eNCA.

"We are focusing on getting them, assisting them out."

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It was difficult to say when all the miners would be brought up, he said, adding, "When each one of the miners who are underground went there, no one was counting."

Precious metal battlefield

In a statement, police said 51 bodies had been retrieved by Tuesday night, following nine the previous day.

The 106 survivors pulled from the mine on Tuesday were arrested for illegal mining, swelling the figure of 26 a day earlier, they added.

For decades the precious metals industry has battled illegal mining, which costs the government and industry hundreds of millions a year in lost sales, taxes and royalties, a mining industry body estimates.

Typically, it is centred on mines abandoned by companies as they are no longer commercially viable on a large scale.

'War on the economy'

Unlicensed miners, known locally for taking a chance, go in to extract whatever may be left.

The government has said the siege of the Stilfontein mine was necessary to fight illegal mining, which Gwede Mantashe called "a war on the economy".

But residents and rights groups have criticised the crackdown, part of an operation called "Close the Hole".