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Gold Mines
The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87, police said Thursday. Authorities faced growing anger and a possible investigation over their initial refusal to help the miners and instead smoke them out" by cutting off their food supplies. National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that 78 bodies were retrieved in a court-ordered rescue operation, with 246 survivors also pulled out from deep underground since the operation began on Monday. Mathe said nine other bodies had been recovered before the rescue operation, without giving details. Community groups launched their own rescue attempts when authorities said last year they would not help the hundreds of miners because they were criminals. The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, although no causes of death have been released. South African authorities have been fiercely critic
Rescuers and volunteers have pulled at least 78 dead miners and more than 160 survivors from an abandoned South African gold mine, where they have languished for over two months during a standoff with authorities who demanded they surrender to police because they were mining illegally. Hundreds are still believed to be trapped on Wednesday and the death toll is expected to rise in a disaster that has focused criticism on the South African government's decision to try to smoke them out by cutting off food and other supplies for a time. Civic groups claim authorities also removed the ropes and pulley systems that the miners used to enter and exit at least one shaft and send down supplies. The groups say the government's weekslong refusal to stage a rescue effectively left scores of miners to die of starvation or dehydration. A rescue is now underway after a court order but only a few miners can be pulled up at a time, and the operation could take 10 days. South African authorities
Hundreds of rescuers on Wednesday pressed ahead with efforts to search for at least nine workers trapped at a gold mine in eastern Turkiye that was engulfed by a massive landslide. The landslide struck the Copler mine in the town of Ilic in Turkiye's mountainous Erzincan province on Tuesday. Footage seemingly shot by a worker showed a huge mass of earth rushing down a gully, overrunning everything in its path. The landslide involved a mound of soil extracted from the mine, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. Some 800 search and rescue personnel, including police and military teams, mine rescuers and volunteers, were deployed to find the mine workers, Yerlikaya said early Wednesday. Other workers at the mine have also joined the efforts to rescue their colleagues, while families of the missing waited at an area close to the mine for news of their loved ones, Haberturk television reported. An investigation into the disaster has been launched. Experts, meanwhile, have warned that t
Deccan Gold Mines Ltd on Monday said it is evaluating data on critical minerals, including lithium, in the country and may seek exploration licences in case of positive assessment. The government last year launched the auction of critical minerals, including two lithium blocks. "As part of our strategy to build a Critical Minerals (CM) portfolio, the company is reviewing data on Nickel, Copper, Graphite and Lithium Projects in India / overseas. The company may secure these licences subject to the positive technical evaluation," the company said in a filing. Shares of the company surged by 4.99 per cent to Rs 130.55 apiece in pre-close session on BSE following the announcement. The benchmark Sensex was trading 0.52 per cent down. On its Jonnagiri gold project, the company said 210.6 acre of key land has been already acquired and efforts are underway to acquire another 40 acre by the end of the next month. As of date, the available land is already sufficient to commence the full-sca
Bihar's Department of Mines and Geology has asked the Geological Survey of India to carry out a detailed exploration to trace gold reserves in Sono area of Jamui district, days after the state government decided to allow auction of nine mineral blocks, officials said. The department has also asked the competent authority to extend the exploration work to identify more coal-bearing areas in Batesarthan-Kasri-Jagarnathpur area in Bhagalpur district. Geophysical work has to be completed before taking up drilling and exploration for the presence of gold reserves in Sono. The G4 stage exploration (preliminary survey) is required to find out the presence of any gold reserve in the area. The DMG has requested the GSI to carry out a detailed analysis/exploration in this regard, Md Nayyer Iqubal, Director (Mines), Bihar, told PTI. There are four stages of exploration for mineral deposits - reconnaissance survey (G4), preliminary exploration (G3), general exploration (G2) and detailed ...
A fire broke out deep in a gold mine in southern Peru and killed at least 27 workers during an overnight shift, Peruvian authorities reported. The Yanaquihua mining company said in a statement that a total of 175 workers had been safely evacuated after the accident, which happened late Friday or early Saturday. It said the 27 dead worked for a contractor that specializes in mining. Government officials said the cause of the incident was under investigation. Some news reports said preliminary investigations indicated an explosion might have been set off by a short circuit in a part of the mine about 100 metres below the surface. Relatives of the victims were brought by buses to the mine in Yanaquihua in the Arequipa region, where they were briefed by security agents. Some sat in front of posters at the entrance to the mine to wait for the bodies of their loved ones. Marcelina Aguirre said her husband was among the dead. She said he had told her there were risks at the mine. "We are
Landlocked in the heart of Africa, the Central African Republic is seeking Indian investors to mine its abundant natural resources ranging from oil, uranium and lithium to gold, diamonds, iron ore and copper. The African nation's Minister for Economy Lea Doumta, who led a delegation on a two-day visit here, said her country is "mighty impressed" with India's growth and development model and is keen to emulate it. "We see India as a role model and are keen to partner with its government and companies in our economic progress," she told PTI here. Bordered by Cameroon, Chad, the two Congos, and the two Sudans, the Central African Republic is one of the poorest nations despite its abundant natural resources. According to the World Bank, the former French colony has 470 minerals, with oil, gold and diamonds having the greatest potential. Diamonds account for nearly half of the country's total export earnings. A nation comparable to the size of Ukraine has the largest reserve of iron or