Hussain, ICawood, F.T.Ali, S2019-10-092019-10-092018-02Hussain, I., Cawood, F.T. and Ali, S. 2018. Towards safer mining: Scientific measurement approaches that could be applied for imaging and locating the buried container lamp-room at lily mine. Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 118(2), pp. 185-192. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2411-9717/2018/v118n2a122225-6253https://hdl.handle.net/10539/28256When the crown pillar at Lily mine collapsed on 5 February 2016, a lamp-room in a container on surface was engulfed in the sinkhole that formed, trapping three miners who were in the lamp-room at the time. In situations like this, it is imperative to locate and rescue the missing miners before the window of opportunity to find them alive closes. The Wits Mining Institute (WMI) at the University of the Witwatersrand was requested to assist with suggestions, and a conceptual study was undertaken to identify techniques that were likely to be successful. Several techniques that have the potential to locate the position of the container were identified, but the typical noise in the form of steel objects, mine cavities, and a combination of broken and solid rock in a complex geographical and geomechanical environment will pose significant challenges.en© 2018. The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. This Journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.Lily mine, South AfricaSafetyWits Mining Institute (WMI)Human errorHuman behaviourHuman factorsAccident preventionHuman engineeringMine workersLeadershipArticle