Source: reuters // Reuters
BEIJING, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The Chinese authorities have accused an offshoot of Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd <2899.HK> <601899.SS> of breaches contributing to a tailing dam collapse in September that killed 22 people, official media reported on Wednesday.
The tailing dam of a tin mine in Xinyi in the southern province of Guangdong overflowed during a typhoon, destroying 523 homes, but province investigators concluded that Xinyi Zijin Mining also "holds direct liability for the accident", said Xinhua News Agency, citing a government statement.
The Xinyi company is a subsidiary of Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed Chinese gold and copper miner Zijin Mining Group. Earlier reports said 28 people had died in the dam collapse.said a report in the Yangcheng Evening News, a Guangdong newspaper.
"The investigation report determined that the collapse was a safety accident triggered by a major natural disaster and regulatory violations by the units involved,"
"The reason for the dam breach was the non-standard construction of the dam's catchpit, thus lowering the dam's flood control standard," said Xinhua, citing a government statement.
Investigators have accused government officials in Xinyi and mine company managers of ignoring safety rules. Xinyi Zijin built and redesigned the tailing dam in contravention of those rules, the newspaper reported.
"A range of safety measures were not in place and there was no enforcement of a safe production responsibility system, and it bears major culpability for the incident," the newspaper said of Xinyi Zijin, citing the government investigation.
Four officials and 11 company managers and employees now face a criminal investigation that could lead to trial and possible conviction, according to the reports.
Zijin had enjoyed a reputation as one of China's premier mining companies, and has mining interests overseas. But it has run into trouble with tailings dams before. Late in 2006, a tailings dam breach at Zijin's Shuiyindong mine in Guizhou province dumped cyanide-laced residue into a stream, and forced the mine to close for months.
A mining boom fuelled by the Chinese economy's voracious demand for metals has left the countryside studded with unsafe tailings dams, that liquefy under pounding rains.
In the worst such accident, 276 people were killed when a tailings dam at an iron mine gave way in Shanxi Province in September 2008.
A similar collapse the previous month in the same province killed 43 people, but was covered up ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
In October, Zijin Mining said it would be fined 9.56 million yuan ($1.44 million) for waste water leaks that flushed toxic waste into eastern Fujian province's Ting river, killing fish and polluting drinking water for tens of thousands of people. [ID:nTOE69608E] (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Chris Lewis)
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Latest China mine disaster kills 28 people-Xinhua
30 Oct 2011 01:22
Source: Reuters // Reuters
BEIJING, Oct 30 (Reuters) - A blast at a coal mine in southern China has killed 28 people, state news agency Xinhua said on Sunday, in the latest disaster to hit the accident-prone industry.
The gas explosion happened on Saturday afternoon at the Xialiuchong colliery in Hunan province's Hengyang, the report said.
One miner remains trapped, it added, without providing further details.
China's mines are the deadliest in the world, due to lax safety standards and a rush to feed demand from a robust economy.
In 2010, 2,433 people died in coal mine accidents in China, although this was an improvement on the toll of 2,631 a year earlier. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait)
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