A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining, although accidents also occur in hard rock mining. Coal mining is considered much more hazardous than hard rock mining due to flat-lying rock strata, generally incompetent rock, the presence of methane gas, and coal dust. Most of the deaths these days occur in developing countries, and rural parts of developed countries where safety measures are not practiced as fully. A mining disaster is an incident where there are five or more fatalities.
Galamsey refers to illegal small-scale gold mining in Ghana. The term is derived from the English phrase "gather them and sell". Historically, galamsey referred to traditional small-scale mining practices in Ghana, where local communities would gather and search for gold in rivers and streams. However, over time, the term has taken on a broader meaning, encompassing both legal and artisanal small-scale mining (ASM). In Ghana, those involved in these activities are called galamseyers, and in neighbouring Francophone countries such as Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, they are often referred to as orpailleurs. Ghana's widespread illegal mining activities have caused extensive destructing to the gold-rich West African country's forests.
The Senghenydd colliery disaster, also known as the Senghenydd explosion, occurred at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd, near Caerphilly, Glamorgan, Wales, on 14 October 1913. The explosion, which killed 439 miners and a rescuer, is the worst mining accident in the United Kingdom. Universal Colliery, on the South Wales Coalfield, extracted steam coal, which was much in demand. Some of the region's coal seams contained high quantities of firedamp, a highly explosive gas consisting of methane and hydrogen.
Hpakant is a town in Hpakant Township, Kachin State in the northernmost part of Myanmar (Burma). It is located on the Uyu River 350 km north of Mandalay. It is famous for its jade mines which produce the world's best quality jadeite.
The 2009 Harmony Gold mine deaths occurred in late May and early June 2009 in Free State province, South Africa. At least 82 miners, many from Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, died from inhalation of poisonous gasses created by a May 18 fire in the mineshaft.
The 2009 Handlová mine blast occurred on 10 August 2009 roughly 330 metres (1,080 ft) underground in Trenčín Region, Slovakia at Hornonitrianske Bane Prievidza, a.s.s (HNB) coal mine located in the town of Handlová. 20 people were killed, nine others suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment. Some historians have called the disaster the largest mining tragedy in Slovakia’s history. The deadly explosion, probably caused by flammable gases, occurred after mine rescuers had earlier been deployed to extinguish a fire in the Eastern shaft of the mine.
Dompoase, a suburb of Kumasi, and located in the Adansi North District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The place is known for Dompoase Senior High School. It is a town of 30,000 people in Ghana. Kumasi is the capital of the region, considered the wealthiest and most powerful in the nation. It is the area of most cocoa production, as well as gold mining.
Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission. Illegal mining is the extraction of precious metals without following the proper procedures to participate in legal mining activity. These procedures include permits and licenses for exploration of the land, mining and transportation.
Dominic Aduna Bingab Nitiwul is a Ghanaian politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bimbilla constituency in the Northern Region of Ghana. He has also served in the Pan-African Parliament. Since February 2017, Nitiwul has held the office of Minister of Defence of Ghana.
Operation Vanguard is a military police joint task force (JTF) set up by the President of Ghana in 2017 to combat illegal mining, known as galamsey. Over the years, the practice has depleted Ghana's forest cover and polluted bodies of water due to the crude and unregulated nature of the mining process.
Joseph Albert Quarm popularly known as Prof. Quarm is a Ghanaian politician and member of the Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana representing the Manso-Nkwanta Constituency in the Ashanti Region on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party.
On 22 April 2019, a landslide triggered the collapse of a jade mine near Maw Wun Kalay, Hpakant, Kachin State, Myanmar, trapping at least 54 miners. The deaths of four miners were confirmed, along with the later deaths of two rescue workers. The remaining miners were presumed to have died.
Crime in Ghana is investigated by the Ghana Police Service.
On 2 July 2020, a major landslide at the Wai Khar jade mining site in the Hpakant area of Kachin State, Myanmar, killed between 175 and 200 miners in the country's deadliest-ever mining incident. At 06:30 local time (MMT) heavy rains triggered the collapse of a heap of mining waste, which came tumbling down into a lake. This generated a 6.1-meter (20 ft) wave of mud and water that buried those working at the Wai Khar mine. The miners killed or injured by the landslide were independent "jade pickers", who scavenge tailings from larger operators and who live in ramshackle quarters at the base of large mounds of rubble.
In the early morning of July 28, 2019, a landslide in a Hpakant jade mine killed at least 17 people, leaving others missing and two injured. The people killed were workers from Yarzahtarni Jade Mining Company, local police, and others unaffiliated with the mine.
The Niger gold mine collapse occurred on 7 November 2021 when a manually dug well collapsed at the Garin-Liman mining area of Maradi region, Niger. The day of the mine disaster left 18 people dead on the spot, 7 injured and hospitalised, and dozens of miners buried underground waiting to be rescued. However, equipment limitations have slowed the rescue process. On 9 November 2021, two days after the mine disaster, rescuers found more bodies in the collapsed mine. Eventually, the number of people killed in the accident rose to 32. Since the incident took place on the border between Niger and Nigeria, a large number of Nigerians work in the area. According to reports, among the victims, 13 were Nigerians.
On December 22, 2021, a landslide at a jade mine in the Hpakant township in Kachin State, Myanmar, killed at least three people, and left between 70 and 100 missing.
The 2024 Sulawesi landslide was a mass casualty event that occurred at an unauthorized gold mine in the Bone Bolango regency located in Gorontalo province on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, on 6 July 2024. The disaster occurred as a result of heavy rainfall causing a landslide that struck over 100 villagers digging for gold at the site of the gold mine, killing at least twelve people and leaving about 48 more missing.
The 2011 Atiwa District floods occurred in the early hours of Monday, July 20, 2011, in the Eastern Region of Ghana. A heavy downpour of about 10 hours of torrential rain caused the Birim River to overflow its banks, resulting in widespread flooding of houses and farmlands in various communities. The towns most affected included Anyinam, Asaman Tamfoe, Osonase, Abomosu, Jejeti, Akwabooso, and Asunafo, all located within the Atiwa District. The flooding led to severe damage to infrastructure, homes, and agricultural lands, displacing many residents and cutting off some towns from the rest of the country due to impassable access roads.
