Mozambique: Three artisanal miners die in Nampula

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Mozambique: Three artisanal miners die in Nampula

4:14 CAT | 08 Jul 2021

File photo: O País

Three illegal artisanal miners died on 27 June and another three were slightly injured as a result of the collapse of two mines in Moma district, Nampula province.

Confirming the incidents on Wednesday, General Inspector of Mines Obete Matine said the victims were carrying out mining activities at the time.

One of the accidents occurred in an area in the village of Chalaua concessioned to gold mining company PPI-Consultorias e Serviços Lda. Two people died instantly and three others contracted minor injuries.

In another (black tourmaline ) mine in the village of Nacapa, owned by Xing Fu Yuang Mining, one of three artisanal miners died.

“The black tourmaline exploitation area was immediately abandoned as soon as the accident occurred. Operations in the gold-mining area were also suspended,” Matine said.

Both the mining company PPI Consultorias e Serviços Lda and Xing Fu Yuang Mining are responsible for maintaining the safety of the area in which they operate. PPI Consultorias e Serviços Ltd had temporarily halted its activities, but that does not exempt it from some responsibilities.

Matine therefore pledged that both mining companies would be held accountable for not safeguarding certain principles governing mining activity.

“Illegal mining took place within areas where the state had assigned mining rights to certain entities for exploitation purposes. They are the ones we are going to hold accountable, in order to guarantee security in their respective areas,” Matine stressed.

Asked about the efficiency of inspection work, Matine acknowledged that there were failures in this particular case, but said work gathering additional data was ongoing.

“Unfortunately, in this case, communication with the local authorities about the accident in question did not go as it should,” she admitted.

In the first half of this year, about 20 people died in the course of illegal mining, and 12 tonnes of illegally mined minerals and ores were seized

Licenses for PPI Consultorias e Serviços and Xing Fu Yuang Mining are dated June 30, 2016, and June 21, 2020, respectively.

By Precidonio Silverio

Source: O País / TVM