The Centurion, South Africa-headquartered company said external contact tracing had identified an employee working in an underground section of the mine as at risk of having been in contact with another infected person, resulting in management voluntarily suspending the afternoon shift on Friday and initiating its own contact tracing protocols as mandated by government.

All areas where the individual may have worked were subjected to a deep cleaning and sanitisation process, after which production resumed.

The company has notified the departments of Health, Mineral Resources and Energy, regional health authorities, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases and labour unions.

South Africa is experiencing a steep increase in the number of COVID-19-related infections and is now reported as having one of the highest daily infection rates per capita in the world.

Data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Centre for Systems Science and Engineering shows South Africa has more than 350,000 confirmed cases, of which about 5,000 people have died.

Shares in Buffalo (TSXV:BUF) are trading at 0.5c, which capitalises it at $2.1 million (US$1.5 million).