Newcrest halts Indonesia gold mine after collapse traps worker

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Newcrest Mining suspended all mining and processing at its Gosowong operation in Indonesia after the underground section of the gold mine was damaged by a cave-in late on Monday, which trapped one of its workers. Newcrest said on Tuesday it did not know what caused the "geotechnical event", which led to a collapse of ground damaging several mining levels. "We don't know bad it is at this stage," Newcrest mining spokesman Jason Mills said. The company did not know yet whether the damage was caused by seismic activity, mining, or a combination of the two. The mine was evacuated immediately after the event and all personnel had been accounted for, except for one employee who was believed to be trapped about 300 meters (984 ft)underground, Newcrest said. It said it was focused on rescuing the trapped worker. Gosowong produced 141,000 ounces of gold in the December half, making up about 12 percent of the company's gold output. (Reporting by Sonali Paul)