Open-pit gold mine collapses in Venezuela, and dozens of people are feared dead
1 year, 1 month ago

Open-pit gold mine collapses in Venezuela, and dozens of people are feared dead

New Indian Express  

LA PARAGUA: An illegally operated open-pit gold mine collapsed in central Venezuela while dozens of people were working there, leaving an undetermined number of people dead or trapped, officials said Wednesday. Officials did not yet have a full tally of those killed, trapped or injured, Venezuela's Ministry of Communication and Information said Wednesday, and no details of rescue efforts were released. Angostura Mayor Yorgi Arciniega said late Tuesday that he planned to take "some 30 caskets" to a community near the mine, indicating that officials feared the death toll could rise into the dozens. Venezuela's government in 2016 established a huge mining development zone stretching across the middle of the country, to add new revenues alongside its oil industry.

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History of this topic

Collapse of illegal gold mine in Venezuela lays bare feelings of abandonment in rural communities
1 year, 1 month ago

Collapse of illegal gold mine in Venezuela lays bare feelings of abandonment in rural communities

Associated Press  

LA PARAGUA, Venezuela — The collapse of an illegally operated gold mine in a remote area of central Venezuela has exposed the sense of abandonment felt by small or rural communities bypassed by a quasi-economic renaissance seen in the South American country’s capital and cities. People in La Paragua, the closest community to Bulla Loca, an open-pit mine were dozens …

Families bid farewell to miners killed in Venezuela’s worst mining accident in years
1 year, 1 month ago

Families bid farewell to miners killed in Venezuela’s worst mining accident in years

Associated Press  

LA PARAGUA, Venezuela — Families and friends began burying loved ones on Thursday who were among at least 16 people killed in the collapse of an illegally operated gold mine in a remote area of central Venezuela. “My nephew used to work in a plantain field and went to the mine in hopes of buying a motorcycle,” Nadales said, recounting …

Families bid farewell to miners killed in Venezuela’s worst mining accident in years
1 year, 1 month ago

Families bid farewell to miners killed in Venezuela’s worst mining accident in years

LA Times  

A sister of miner Santiago Mora, left, cries with other relatives as he is buried at the cemetery in La Paragua, Venezuela. Families and friends on Thursday began burying loved ones who were among at least 16 people killed in the collapse of an illegally operated gold mine in a remote area of central Venezuela. “My nephew used to work …

At least 23 dead after open-pit gold mine collapses in Venezuela
1 year, 1 month ago

At least 23 dead after open-pit gold mine collapses in Venezuela

Al Jazeera  

Rescuers retrieve 23 bodies after a wall of earth collapses upon workers at an illegally operated mine in Bolivar state. At least 23 people have died in central Venezuela after a wall of earth collapsed at an illegally operated gold mine while dozens of people were at work. Yorgi Arciniega, a local official, told the AFP news agency on Wednesday …

At least 14 confirmed dead after an illegal open-pit gold mine collapses in Venezuela
1 year, 1 month ago

At least 14 confirmed dead after an illegal open-pit gold mine collapses in Venezuela

Associated Press  

LA PARAGUA, Venezuela — 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. Angostura Mayor Yorgi Arciniega said late Tuesday that he planned to take “some 30 caskets” to a community …

Open-pit gold mine collapses in Venezuela, and dozens of people are feared dead
1 year, 1 month ago

Open-pit gold mine collapses in Venezuela, and dozens of people are feared dead

LA Times  

Yorvis Hernandez, a 34-year-old miner, gets medical attention at at tent set up next to a mine after it collapsed in La Paragua, Venezuela, on Feb 21, 2024. An illegally operated open-pit gold mine collapsed in central Venezuela while dozens of people were working there, leaving an undetermined number dead or trapped, officials said Wednesday as relatives demanded swift rescue …

More than 70 are dead after an unregulated gold mine collapsed in Mali, an official says
1 year, 2 months ago

More than 70 are dead after an unregulated gold mine collapsed in Mali, an official says

Associated Press  

BAMAKO, Mali — An unregulated gold mine collapsed late last week in Mali, killing more than 70 people, an official said Wednesday, and a search continued amid fears that the toll could rise. The Ministry of Mines statement “deeply regretted” the collapse, and urged miners and communities living near mining sites to “comply with safety requirements.” In recent years, there …

Maduro orders the 'immediate' exploitation of oil, gas and mines in Guyana's Essequibo
1 year, 3 months ago

Maduro orders the 'immediate' exploitation of oil, gas and mines in Guyana's Essequibo

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on …

Gold and mercury, not books, for Venezuela’s child miners
1 year, 6 months ago

Gold and mercury, not books, for Venezuela’s child miners

Al Jazeera  

At 10 years old, Martin cannot read, but he is an old hand at detecting traces of the gold he and his young cousins dig for at an opencast mine in southeastern Venezuela. Carlos Trapani of the CECODAP children’s rights NGO says that the backbreaking work and its associated dangers have become “normalised” in these communities. Despite what Trapani describes …

AP PHOTOS: A proliferation of gold mines in Venezuela offers grueling, dangerous work
1 year, 10 months ago

AP PHOTOS: A proliferation of gold mines in Venezuela offers grueling, dangerous work

Associated Press  

EL CALLAO, Venezuela — Venezuela is known to have the world’s largest oil reserves, but its soil holds another valuable resource: gold. At an underground mine in Bolivar state, operators use dynamite to loosen rocks some 260 feet below the surface, where workers descend daily to toil in oppressive heat with no safety gear. One of the miners, Alfredo Arriojas, …

More than a dozen killed in Niger gold mine collapse
3 years, 4 months ago

More than a dozen killed in Niger gold mine collapse

Al Jazeera  

At least 18 people killed and seven others injured in southern Niger after an artisanal mine collapsed, local mayor says. At least 18 people died when an artisanal gold mine collapsed in southern Niger near the border with Nigeria, the local mayor has said. “The provisional death toll is 18 people, whom we buried this morning,” Adamou Gueraou, mayor of …

Dismantle criminal gangs running Amazon mines, UN tells Venezuela
4 years, 8 months ago

Dismantle criminal gangs running Amazon mines, UN tells Venezuela

Al Jazeera  

UN says nearly 150 men and women are reported to have died in gold, diamond and bauxite mines since March 2016. “Despite the considerable presence of security and military forces in the region … authorities have failed to investigate and prosecute human rights violations, and abuses and crimes linked to mining,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said …

Venezuela risks stoking pandemic with Amazon mining say activists
4 years, 11 months ago

Venezuela risks stoking pandemic with Amazon mining say activists

Al Jazeera  

Venezuela’s move to allow gold and diamond mining in six rivers in its Amazon region may worsen the environmental damage from a state-backed mining effort while also fuelling the spread of the coronavirus, according to activists and legislators. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government this month lifted the long-standing prohibition on mining in the rivers, with the opposition-controlled National Assembly condemning …

Venezuela’s gold linked with corruption and violence
5 years, 7 months ago

Venezuela’s gold linked with corruption and violence

CNN  

El Callao, Venezuela CNN — The crash of steel pounding rock echoes through the dark gallery, as Darwin Rojas, 43, hammers away in a small corner. Maduro, members of his family and his regime have been using this legal framework to direct illegal mining operations in the region, granting the Venezuelan military “liberal access” to mines in order to buy …

Venezuela Trudges Ahead With Risky 'Gold Rush' Despite Sanctions
6 years, 4 months ago

Venezuela Trudges Ahead With Risky 'Gold Rush' Despite Sanctions

NPR  

Venezuela Trudges Ahead With Risky 'Gold Rush' Despite Sanctions Enlarge this image toggle caption Marco Bello/Reuters Marco Bello/Reuters "Nothing and no one will stop us!" Yet their nation is known to have some of the world's largest gold deposits, many of which are beneath the soil of the "mining arc," along with diamonds, coltan, bauxite and other riches. Without the …

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