gold mine

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Gold Mine Collapse Kills at Least 14

There are fears the death toll could rise in Venezuela tragedy

(Newser) - The collapse of an illegally operated open-pit gold mine in central Venezuela killed at least 14 people and injured several more, state authorities said Wednesday, as some other officials reported an undetermined number of people could be trapped, the AP reports. Bolivar state Gov. Angel Marcano told local reporters that...

Landslide 'Swallows' Miners in Turkey
Landslide 'Swallows'
Gold Miners
Feb 14, 2024 12:00 AM CST

Landslide 'Swallows' Gold Miners

Activists have tried to shut down the open pit gold mine before

(Newser) - A landslide hit a gold mine in Turkey on Tuesday, trapping nine miners. Hundreds of rescue workers were searching for the miners, whom the Guardian describes as being "swallowed" by a "cyanide-laced landslide"—the chemical compound is in the ground in the area because it's used...

A New Gold Rush in California? Some Think It's Worth It

There's newfound interest in mines shuttered decades ago

(Newser) - If the term "California gold rush" makes you think of the mid-1800s, get ready to be jerked forward in time. In a piece published by the Atlantic , Becki Robins explores the potential birth of a second gold rush in the state through the lens of Rise Gold, a mining...

They Found 5 Bodies Wrapped in Plastic, Then 15 More

South African discovery linked to illegal mining mishap

(Newser) - Police have uncovered the burned bodies of 20 men "wrapped in white plastic bags" in a gold mining town in South Africa. Five bodies were discovered Monday near a disused mine shaft in Orkney, North West province, about 100 miles southwest of Johannesburg, per the Sunday Times . Another body...

'There's Gold Up There'; a Death Valley Controversy

Environmentalist, tribes vow to fight plans for open-pit mine near national park

(Newser) - "There’s gold up there and the world needs gold," Stephen Swatton, president of international mining company K2 Gold, says of an area of desert terrain next to California's Death Valley National Park. But opponents including the Sierra Club and native tribes say the plan to mine...

Trapped Miner Knocked 5 Times. He Heard 20 Knocks Back

Workers at mine in Shandong, China, describe ordeal after explosion trapped them for 2 weeks

(Newser) - The explosion happened in an instant. Wang Kang, one of 22 workers trapped some 2,000 feet underground as debris filled the shaft at the under-construction gold mine in China's Shandong province, was sent flying. "It blasted us really far away, and our safety helmets cracked," the...

Miners Trapped for 7 Days Manage to Get Note to Surface

At least 12 of the Chinese miners are alive

(Newser) - A blast in a gold mine in eastern China trapped 22 men below ground on Jan. 10. One week later, 12 of those men managed to get word to the top that they were still alive. The BBC reports that after rescuers determined ropes they had lowered into a narrow...

To Get to $7B in Gold, They Have to Wrangle Rare Rodents

Ed Stoddard at Undark describes the conservation project around Chilean mine

(Newser) - An effort to pull 3.5 million ounces of gold from a site high in the mountains of northern Chile is expected to cost $860 million—$400,000 of which has already been spent on rodents. A colony of 25 endangered short-haired chinchillas has made a home at the site...

Robbers Flee by Air After Gold Mine Raid

Light plane landed while bandits subdued guards

(Newser) - A gold mine in Mexico's violence-plagued Sonora state faced robbers arriving from both land and air this week, authorities say. Alamos Gold, a Canadian mining company, says five armed robbers subdued security guards as they were loading gold/silver alloy bars from the Los Mulatos mine onto a plane Wednesday...

At Least 15 Die After Dam Collapse at Gold Mine

A criminal investigation is now underway

(Newser) - At least 15 gold miners in a remote part of Siberia were killed Saturday when a dam collapsed on their encampment, per Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations. Bloomberg and Reuters report that 13 people are still said to be missing after the early-morning calamity in the Krasnoyarsk region, which...

'Once in a Lifetime': $11M Worth of Gold Unearthed in Just One Blast

Miners in Australia discover 'mother lode'

(Newser) - With just one blast, miners in Western Australia unearthed two large quartz rocks containing gold estimated to be worth about $11 million, bringing the cache to the surface over four days. Australian miners often extract just 2g of gold per ton of rock—an expert says the gold particles are...

Filipino Kids Risk Lives in Country's Deadly Gold Mines

Some mines are 80 feet deep, some are underwater

(Newser) - Thousands of children in the Philippines are working in the country's gold mines, where conditions are deadly and "absolutely terrifying," according to a report published Tuesday by Human Rights Watch. According to Time , the report includes interviews with 65 child miners—some of whom started working in...

Trapped South African Miners Refuse to Come Up

Some emerge, but others fear being arrested

(Newser) - About a dozen miners have been freed from a mine in South Africa since getting trapped there yesterday, but others are refusing to emerge because they don't want to be arrested for illegal mining, Reuters and CNN report. One miner is trying to convince about 19 others to surface,...

Trapped Miners Begin Emerging From Illegal S. Africa Mine

Rescuers in contact with 30 illegal miners near surface; more below

(Newser) - A handful of the 200-plus illegal South African miners trapped in an abandoned gold mine near Johannesburg have begun to emerge, reports the BBC . Rescuers are in contact with a group of about 30 miners who are near the surface, reports Reuters . "They told us there are about 200...

Miners Fight for Right to Vacuum Up Gold in Rivers

Suction dredge mining still banned in California

(Newser) - Vacuuming up gold from the bottom of a river sounds pretty tempting, so you can see why California gold miners are so intent on being allowed to do it. But suction dredge mining, as it's called, is quite controversial and has been banned in the state for the past...

Behind Kyrgyzstan Unrest: Gold in the Mountains

Protests threatened as government debates mine's future

(Newser) - Kyrgyzstan has had two revolutions in eight years, and it's poised for a third amid anger over a gold mine at 12,000 feet. Nationalists say it's time for the Kumtor mine to return to local control after it was sold to a Canadian company in 2009; they...

6.8 Quake Kills 12 in Burma
 6.8 Quake Kills 12 in Burma 
Nov 11, 2012 9:42 AM CST

6.8 Quake Kills 12 in Burma

Gold mine collapses in temblor

(Newser) - A strong earthquake of magnitude-6.8 struck northern Burma today, collapsing a bridge and a gold mine, damaging several old Buddhist pagodas and leaving as many as 12 people feared dead. A slow release of official information left the actual extent of the damage unclear; the epicenter was near the...

Good News for Haiti: Gold!
 Good News for 
 Haiti: Gold! 
May 12, 2012 2:40 PM CDT

Good News for Haiti: Gold!

Troubled nation starts digging for $20B fortune

(Newser) - What news for a nation blighted by poverty , disease , and a devastating earthquake : Haiti is home to lucrative gold mines. And copper and silver ones too. Potentially worth $20 billion, the precious metal finds are already creating hundreds of jobs and new roads, the AP reports. What's more, mining...

Californian Busted for Lucrative Illegal Gold Mine

Sierra Nevada digger hit with environmental charges

(Newser) - California authorities aren't buying landowner Joseph Hardesty's excuse that he is merely running a gravel business from a Gold Rush-era mine in a gold-rich part of the state. Authorities in El Dorado County say he is running one of the most blatantly illegal gold-mining operations ever seen in...

Chile Starts Digging Miner Rescue Shaft

NASA pitching in to help trapped miners

(Newser) - Three months and 29 days to go: Engineers have begun drilling the shaft through which they hope to rescue the 33 miners trapped in a collapsed gold mine deep below Chile's Atacama Desert. The rescue shaft, begun late yesterday, must reach down 2,300 feet to the emergency shelter where...

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