DR Congo villagers sprayed with mine acid
Published by MAC on 2019-02-25Source: Mining Technoloy
Twenty dead
It's been only two months since the start of a year when many in the mining industry vaunted AI-regulated "mining of the future, where worker and community safety would be vastly improved.
In practice, the very opposite has happened (as this website has revealed).
Now, the "accidental" spillage of deadly acid from a truck has taken the lives of some twenty people at a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The culprit is an (as yet unnamed) "logistics" outfit employed by Glencore, one of the world's leading miners.
Acid truck spill near Glencore’s Mutanda Mine kills 20
Mining Technoloy
25 February 2019
Around 20 people have died following a collision that occurred between a truck carrying sulphuric acid to Glencore’s Mutanda Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo and two other vehicles.
The accident is believed to have taken place 50km from the copper and cobalt mine in the south-east of the country.
Reuters cited Glencore, which commented that a logistics company which was contracted by Mutanda Mine owns the truck.
Glencore did not disclose any details pertaining to the name of the company or other details regarding those who died.
In an emailed statement to queries from the news agency Glencore said that it ‘will continue to work with the logistics company and relevant government agencies, including the emergency services to provide support’.
Lualaba province Mines Minister Jean-Marie Tshizainga told Bloomberg that the acid was sprayed over people and vehicles following the collision.
The UN radio channel Okapi said that the damaged truck continued to spill its contents and acid flowed towards the village of Kabwe.
“Glencore will continue to work with the logistics company and relevant government agencies.”
Glencore recently announced plans to cut production and lay off 2,000 employees at the Mutanda Mine, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.
The move aimed to reduce the company’s operational costs at the mine.
The open-pit Mutanda mine is expected to produce around 100,000t of copper and 25,000t of cobalt this year. It lies about 40km to the south-east of Kolwezi in the Roan formation and is close to the national road and railway line between Kolwezi and Zambia.