(TibetanReview.net, Jun01’23) – Authorities in Chinese ruled Tibet have approved the resumption of production at a copper mine near capital Lhasa without any clear information on the six miners reported lost in an accident on May 14 and even as investigation continues, according to kitco.com May 31. The six miners appear to have lost their lives as the company has referred to them as fatalities.
China’s Zijin Mining reported today that Tibet Julong Copper, a 50.1% owned subsidiary of the company, has recently received a written reply from the Emergency Management Bureau of Maizhokunggar (Tibetan: Maldrogungkar) County, which granted approval for Julong Copper to resume its production, the report said.
The company had earlier said in a statement on May 14 that a lift cage falling incident occurred during the construction process of the relevant shafts of the Julong copper and polymetallic mine’s drainage system project, which was subcontracted to Fujian Xingwanxiang Construction by Julong Copper.
The company has given no clear information on the result of the search and rescue operation during the suspension of the production which followed the accident. It only said the search and rescue operations were carried out in full force by the rescue teams organized by the local government, adding that these operations were concluded on May 16.
“The incident resulted in the fatalities of six personnel with whom contact had been lost. At present, the cause of the incident is still under investigation,” Zijin has said.
The company’s Board was stated to have ordered its relevant departments to conduct comprehensive inspection of production safety management of each subsidiary’s subcontractors and strictly implement each production safety measure to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Zijin Mining is a large multinational mining group engaged in the global exploration and development of copper, gold, zinc and lithium, as well as engineering and technological research. It has mining projects in 15 provincial-level regions in the PRC and 13 other countries across the globe, the report noted.
The company’s shares are stated to be traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the ticker code 2899, and on the Shanghai Stock Exchange under the code 601899.