Five miners presumed dead after mudslide in South African diamond mine
Five diamond miners missing since Tuesday following a mudslide deep underground are presumed dead, South Africa’s mining minister said on Friday after assessing rescue efforts.
Gwede Mantashe told a press conference that it was now a question of retrieving their bodies, public broadcaster the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The miners were trapped more than 800 metres underground in the early hours of Tuesday morning, when there was a “mud-rush” at the Ekapa mine in the Northern Cape province.
Ekapa Minerals, the company that operates the mine, said all operations were stopped immediately after the incident and that rescue efforts were continuing.
“The time passed since the event is a major concern but there is no change in approach to the rescue activities and we are not giving up hope,” Ekapa Minerals general manager Howard Marsden said in a statement.
Mantashe said in a separate statement that an investigation would be conducted to find out what had happened.
South Africa’s government and mining industry have been making efforts to reduce mine deaths and injuries, part of a campaign called “Zero Harm”. Last year the country recorded its lowest-ever number of mine deaths, 41.
Ekapa Minerals said it had been briefing the families of the trapped miners, who held a vigil near the mine on Thursday night.
Kimberley, where the mine is located, was the site of a 19th-century diamond rush that lured fortune-seekers from the world over.
Diamond revenues funded the growth of South African industry and gold mines, which themselves helped finance colonial ruler Britain through two world wars.
(By Anathi Madubela and Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Alexander Winning)
Landslide in Indonesia’s Morowali nickel hub kills one, halts operations
A landslide has hit a mine waste zone at a nickel processing hub managed by PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) on the island of Sulawesi, IMIP’s spokesperson Dedy Kurniawan said on Thursday, killing one worker and halting operations.
The landslide on Wednesday occurred in a tailings area run by an IMIP tenant called PT QMB, and was suspected to have been caused by soft soils. It sweptaway excavators and bulldozers along the way, Dedy said.
Operations at the tailings zone were halted as of Thursday, Dedy told Reuters.
PT IMIP is the largest nickel-processing hub in resource-rich Indonesia and has over 50 tenants, mainly makers of nickel products used in stainless steel and EV battery materials, according to the company website.
Chinese steelmaker Tsingshan Holding Group is among PT IMIP’s shareholders.
QMB New Energy Materials is an Indonesia-based nickel and cobalt joint venture led by China’s GEM. QMB was forced to suspend almost all production in March 2025 after a deadly landslide buried four workers under nickel mine waste.
Neither Tsingshan nor GEM responded immediately to requests for comment.
(By Ananda Teresia and Stanley Widianto; Editing by David Stanway)
At least 37 die from gas inhalation at Nigeria mining site
At least 37 miners died of carbon monoxide poisoning at a mining site in Nigeria’s Plateau state, a police source and a security report seen by Reuters said on Wednesday.
The incident occurred at about 5:45 a.m. in a mining pit in Kampani, a community in the Wase area, according to the report. Another 25 miners were taken to hospital.
Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said the area was an abandoned lead site with stored minerals prone to releasing toxic gases. Villagers, unaware of the toxic nature of the emissions, reportedly entered the tunnel to extract minerals and inhaled the gas, he said.
Alake ordered the closure of mining areas covered by licence 11810, operated by Solid Unit Nigeria Limited and owned by Abdullahi Dan‑China in Zuraq, following the deaths of villagers allegedly mining in a pit containing dangerous gas emissions.
Preliminary findings showed the victims, aged 20 to 35, died after inhaling the gas while working underground, the security report said.
The Plateau state government said many were feared dead without providing a figure, adding that others were receiving treatment in nearby hospitals.
Security forces have cordoned off the site to prevent further access.
Most mines in Nigeria operate illegally, with limited safety measures and miners often lacking protective equipment.
The federal government has ordered the immediate shutdown of all mining activities in the affected area pending further investigation.
(By Ahmed Kingimi, Camillus Eboh and Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Jon Boyle, Ros Russell and Chizu Nomiyama)
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