List of gold mining disasters
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Template:SHORTDESC: This is a list of gold mining disasters including environmental, such as those arising due to dam failure, cyanide leakage into the environment, as well as inappropriate environmental toxic waste discharge due to the gold cyanidation technique used in gold mining. Other disasters at gold mines such as those resulting in loss of life are also listed.
| Year | Mine | Location | Majority Owner | Company Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1882 | Creswick | File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia | New Australasian Gold Mine disaster: Australia's worst below-ground gold mining disaster.[1] | ||
| 1971 | Certej Mine | File:Flag of Romania.svg Romania | 1971 Certej dam failure: A dam failure resulted in the leak of 300,000 cubic metres of cyanide-contaminated flood Certeju de Sus, resulting in 89 deaths. | ||
| 1984-2013 | Ok Tedi Mine | File:Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg Papua New Guinea | BHP | File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia | Ok Tedi environmental disaster: Unrestricted waste discharges from the mine had strong effects on the environment and the 50,000 people who live downstream. Over 2 billion tons of untreated mining waste were thus discharged. |
| 1984-2013 | Summitville mine | File:Flag of the United States.svg USA | Galactic Resources | File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | A Canadian-based company used gold cyanidation process to extract gold, resulted in 610,000 m³ of stored toxic water. Following the company's bankruptcy, the US government spent over $155 million to clean the site. |
| 1995 | Omai mine | File:Flag of Guyana.svg Guyana | Omai Gold Mines (subsidiary of Cambior) | File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | 3 million cubic metres of cyanide-tainted waste was spilled into the Omai river and then the Essequibo iver following a dam failure.[2] |
| 1996 | Mt. Tapian | File:Flag of the Philippines.svg The Philippines | Marcopper Mining | File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | Marcopper mining disaster: A fracture of the drainage tunnel for a tailings pit led to discharge of toxic waste into Makulapnit-Boac river system, causing large-scale destruction of crops, burying one village with mud and requiring 20 other villages to be evacuated. |
| 1998 | Kumtor Gold Mine | File:Flag of Kyrgyzstan.svg Kyrgyzstan | Centerra Gold | File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | A truck carrying 1,762 kg of sodium cyanide fell into the Barskaun River. An international independent group of experts studied the impact of the accident and concluded that no one was killed or poisoned as a result of the accident.[3] |
| 2000 | Baia Mare | File:Flag of Romania.svg Romania | Esmerelda Exploration Limited | File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia | 2000 Baia Mare cyanide spill: A dam failure resulted in the leak of 100,000 cubic metres of cyanide-contaminated water which spilled into the Someş and Tisza. Pollution flowed into Europe's second largest river, the Danube, and finally into the Black Sea, across six countries. Hungary asserted the spill killed 1,241 tonnes of fish in Hungary alone.[4] |
| 2000 | Tolukuma gold mine | File:Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg Papua New Guinea | Dome Resources | File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia | A one-tonne cyanide crate fell from a helicopter into the jungle, while heavy rain in the area washed 100–150 kg of it into a river.[5] |
| 2006 | Beaconsfield gold mine | File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia | Beaconsfield Mine collapse: 1 miner was killed and 2 were trapped underground for a fortnight.[6] | ||
| 2009 | Ahafo gold mine |  Ghana
|
Newmont | File:Flag of the United States.svg USA | Overflow of process solution containing sodium cyanide occurred within the processing plant site at Newmont Ghana's open pit Ahafo Mine. This resulted in water contamination and fish mortality.[7] |
| 5 August 2015 | Gold King Mine | File:Flag of the United States.svg USA | File:Flag of the United States.svg USA | 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill: In Silverton, Colorado, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) personnel, along with workers for Environmental Restoration LLC, caused the release of toxic waste water into the Animas River watershed.[8] | |
| 2015 | Veladero mine, San Juan province | File:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina | Barrick Gold | File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | 1,072 cubic meters of cyanide solution reached the Potrerillos River due to a valve failure.[9] |
| 2019 | Kampine mine, Kampine town, Maniema |  Democratic Republic of the Congo
|
22 illegal miners dead in an illegally run mine.[10] | ||
| 2020 | Kamituga mine, Kamitung town, South Kivu | Democratic Republic of the Congo
|
50+ people died after a mine collapse due to heavy rain. Three tunnels to the mine were blocked as a result of the heavy flow of water.[11] | ||
| 7 November 2021 | Kondago village |  Niger
|
Niger
|
Niger gold mine collapse - 30+ miners killed.[12] | |
| 21 February 2022 | Gbomblora |  Burkina Faso
|
Informal site | Burkina Faso
|
Gbomblora explosion - 60 people killed; over 100 people were injured.[13] |
| 13 February 2024 | Çöpler Gold Mine, İliç, Erzincan |  Turkey
|
SSR Mining, Anagold Mining | File:Flag of the United States.svg USA, Turkey
|
9 miners under cyanide containing soil landslide.[14] |
| 2024 | Eagle Gold Mine | File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | Victoria Gold Corp | File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | On June 24, 2024, 300,000 cubic metres of cyanide-contaminated water leaked from a heap leach failure in Victoria Gold Corp's Eagle Gold Mine site near Mayo, Yukon. The failure resulted in the company being forced into court ordered receivership and its stock being delisted from the TSX.[15] |
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References
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- ^ Cyanide from mine threatens Guyana river The Independent August 23, 1995
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- ^ "Cyanide seeps into PNG rivers", BBC, March 23, 2000
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