JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - AngloGold Ashanti said on Saturday 23 May it had suspended operations at its Savuka mine after a series of "underground tremors" on Friday 22 May left a pump attendant dead.

Savuka gold mine in South Africa

"Operations at the mine have been suspended. The extent of the damage caused by the incident will be assessed over the course of the weekend," the company said in a statement.

"Basically they were underground tremors," AngloGold spokeswoman Joanne Jones told Reuters. She declined to elaborate.

The company said Savuka produced 14,000 ounces of gold in the first quarter of 2009, just over one percent of total group production.

The National Union of Mine Workers (NUM) said a worker had also died at Anglo Platinum's Marula Platinum mine last night, while another was killed by a loader at its Rustenburg Platinum mine this morning, bringing to 9 the number of mineworkers killed on duty this week.

"The NUM condemns the ineptitude of employers in all these accidents and calls on the Department of Minerals to strengthen its hand in dealing with these matters," it said in a statement.

South Africa said 168 workers died in its mines last year, down 24 percent from the previous year. The Department of Minerals and Energy has been trying to reduce fatalities and routinely orders a temporary closure of operations when deaths occur.