The man became trapped after a geotechnical event in the Kencana mine on Monday night.

“I am very pleased to confirm that at approximately 10am today local time we made verbal contact with Pak Mursalim Sahman who is trapped underground at the Kencana underground mine,” Newcrest managing director and CEO Sandeep Biswas said.

Contact was established via a small diameter hole drilled through 54m of ground to where Sahman is located.

“Kencana mine personnel were able to speak with Pak Mursalim and he confirmed that he is in good health and good spirits and that he has supplies of food and water. He only expressed concern about how his family had been faring,” Biswas said.

The company is sending down additional water and food, as well as a communication link.

“While this is a pleasing development, a lot of work remains to be done to get Pak Mursalim out safely,” Biswas said.

“We are drawing upon expertise and assistance from other mining companies and specialist advisors who have led similar underground rescue efforts around the world.

“I am not able to give a timeframe at this stage on when we expect to extract him.”

Sahman’s family, who are from the local area, are on site and being supported by the company.

Newcrest is yet to establish the cause of the incident, but investigations continue with the assistance of the Indonesian Mines Inspectorate.

All mining and processing operations remain suspended.

Kencana is one of two underground mines that make up the Gosowong operation.

The mine is 75%-owned by Newcrest and is set to produce 300,000-350,000 ounces of gold this financial year.

Gosowong employs around 2200 workers, around 98% of which are Indonesian.