Fourteen informal gold miners lost their lives in a tunnel collapse in Suriname on Monday. The incident occurred on a concession owned by a subsidiary of Chinese state miner Zijin Mining, as reported by a Surinamese official.
Rescue efforts were initiated by fellow miners, who had retrieved most of the bodies by the time government rescue teams arrived at the site in the country’s south. This information was shared by Jerry Slijngard of the Disaster Management Coordination Centre in an interview with local Radio ABC Suriname on Tuesday morning.
To assist in recovering any potential casualties, a French search and rescue team is set to be deployed, according to Slijngard.
Following the tragic event, President Chan Santokhi announced a national mourning period to honor the lives lost.
The subsidiary purchased by Zijin, Rosebel Gold Mines, expressed regret for the deaths in a statement on Monday. The company noted that it had attempted to remove informal miners, also known as porknokkers, with an eviction order, but they had returned to the area.
“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 company stated. “There have been several efforts earlier this year to address this dangerous situation.”
Rosebel Gold Mines also mentioned having met with Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk on Monday to discuss informal mining, just before receiving news of the tunnel collapse, which it described as “a poignant reminder” of the risks associated with informal mining.
In 2019, the previous owner of Rosebel, Canadian miner Iamgold Corp, dismissed 325 contractors after a clash between illegal miners and police, and later that year suffered a blockade.
Zijin is reportedly facing similar issues with informal and illegal mining at other operations in South America. A Reuters investigation in 2021 revealed that some tunnels on its Buritica concession in Colombia are controlled by the Clan del Golfo crime gang, which purchases output from informal miners.
Output at its Colombia concession has been repeatedly halted due to road blockades, the company also mentioned.
(Reporting by Ank Kuipers in Paramaribo; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
