PARAMARIBO (Reuters) – Fourteen casual gold miners have been killed in a tunnel collapse in Suriname on Monday afternoon on a concession belonging to a subsidiary of Chinese language state miner Zijin Mining, a Surinamese official stated.
Fellow miners had recovered a lot of the our bodies by the point authorities rescue groups arrived on the web site within the nation’s south, Jerry Slijngard of the Catastrophe Administration Coordination Centre informed native Radio ABC Suriname on Tuesday morning.
A French search and rescue group will help in recovering extra potential casualties, he added.
President Chan Santokhi on Monday introduced a second of nationwide mourning over the deaths.
Rosebel Gold Mines, the subsidiary bought by Zijin in February, stated in a press release on Monday it regretted the deaths and had tried to take away casual miners, identified domestically as porknokkers, with an eviction order, however that they had returned.
“We have been in discussions with the Surinamese authorities for quite some time, during which we have repeatedly emphasized the dangers of illegal gold mining,” the corporate stated. “There have been several efforts earlier this year to address this dangerous situation.”
The corporate stated it met on Monday with Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk about casual mining after which obtained information of the collapse, which it known as “a poignant reminder” of the risks of casual mining.
Canadian miner Iamgold Corp, Rosebel’s earlier proprietor, dismissed 325 contractors in 2019 after a conflict between unlawful miners and police, and later that yr suffered a blockade.
Zijin faces points with casual and unlawful mining at different operations in South America.
A Reuters investigation confirmed in 2021 that some tunnels on its Buritica concession in Colombia are managed by the Clan del Golfo crime gang, which buys output from casual miners.
Street blockades round its Colombia concession have additionally repeatedly halted output.
