At least thirty seven dead following gas build-up at Nigerian mine.

At least 37 have died and another 25 have been hospitalised with carbon monoxide poisoning following an incident at a mine in Nigeria on Wednesday 18 February 2025. The mine, at Kampani, near the town of Wase in Plateau State, is a former commercial lead mine which had been re-opened by local artisanal miners. The site has currently been cordoned off by local authorities pending an investigation, and it is possible that further bodies remain underground. The affected miners had been working a night shift at the mine and were discovered by members of the day shift when they entered the mine at 6.30 am local time.

A funeral being held for the victims of an accident at a mine in Plateau State, Nigeria, on 18 February 2026. In accordance with Islamic custom, all of the victims were laid to rest on the day of the incident. The Sun Nigeria.

Artisanal occupations, in which miners from poorer communities occupy sites which have either been decommissioned or mothballed by larger mining companies (decommissioned mines have ceased all operations permanently, whereas mothballed mines are mines which are still considered workable, but where production has been halted for some reason, usually a decease in the value of the mineral being targeted). In these cases local miners extract minerals themselves from the site, typically using traditional hand tools or other low tech approaches. This can be an extremely dangerous activity, as local miners are seldom able to put into place the safety measures a larger company would, and are often working deeper below ground than would otherwise be possible with the tools at their disposal. 

The legal status of such mines makes matters more complicated; law enforcement agencies in some countries are prepared to turn a blind eye to such activities, but the owners of mines, particularly those which have been mothballed, tend to object strongly, placing pressure on law enforcers to arrest and prosecute what they see as illegal miners. This can lead to miners being surreptitious about their activities, and trying to hide them from the local authorities, something which will delay or even prevent rescue operations from being mounted accidents occur.

The approximate location of the 18 February 2026 mining incident. Google Maps.

Carbon monoxide, sometimes known as whitedamp in mines, is typically produced by the incomplete combustion of carbon and/or hydrocarbons, where the oxygen levels are insufficient to produce carbon dioxide. It is dangerous because it does not simply replace the oxygen in the air, as with asphyxiant gasses such as nitrogen, it also binds to the oxygen-receptive sites on the haemoglobin molecule, from where it cannot be removed by normal metabolic processes, thereby removing the victims ability to process oxygen. This means that carbon monoxide becomes hazardous at far lower levels than most other gasses. Since it is colourless, odourless, and tasteless, victims often do not realise they are being poisoned until it is too late. 

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a common hazard at coal mines, where there is an abundance of raw carbon and a limited supply of oxygen, and can even build up in seams catching miners unaware. However, the Kampani mine produces lead, in an area with a largely igneous terrain and a metals-based mining economy (the town of Wase is noted for the presence of Wase Rock, an exposed volcanic plug forming a pillar-shaped hill) which makes this explanation unlikely. It is possible that the miners were using petrol-fuelled equipment, such as drills, generators, or even ventilators, in an enclosed area with limited oxygen, and that incomplete combustion of fuel led to the formation and build-up of carbon monoxide.

Wase Hill in Plateau State, Nigeria. A former volcanic plug which has remained after the softer outer part of the volcano has been eroded away, it stands 295 m above the surrounding plain of the Benue Rift, and can be seen from 40 km away. Dolapo Moses Apata/Wikimedia Commons.

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Landslide at mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo kills at least 227.

The number of confirmed deaths following a landslide at a mine in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has now reached 227, with more people thought to be buried beneath the debris. The landslide struck at the Rubaya Coltan Mine in North Kivu Province on Wednesday 28 January 2026, and is thought to have been  caused by heavy rain, associated with the bi-annual rainy season. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall. The victims of the event are reported to include women and children.

The Rubaya Mine is the world's single largest producer of coltan, an abbreviation for columbite–tantalites, the ore for the metals niobium and tantalum, which are vital to a the modern electronics industry. The Rubaya Mine produces somewhere between 15 and 30% of the world's supply of coltan, but is not a modern mining facility, instead being largely worked by artisanal miners with basic tools, digging into the side of Rubaya Hill. This sort of mining activity leaves sites particularly vulnerable to landslips as it creates exposed slopes with no vegetation to bind soils in place. The site is in an area under the control of the M23 rebel group, who are thought to earn about US$800 000 per year from the mine, although local labourers typically earn only a few dollars per day.

Mining activity at the Rubaya Mine. Hasan Lali/BBC.

The M23 militia (officially the Mouvement du 23 mars) was formed in 2012 by former members of the National Congress for the Defence of the People, a Rwandan-backed rebel group which had become part of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo following a 2009 peace agreement, but left following alleged human rights violations by that group. The M23 militia now controls a large area of North Kivu Province, including many coltan and gold mining sites. It is widely thought to be associated with government of Rwanda, and the be selling minerals via that country, although the Rwandans deny this.

North Kivu Province  two Rainy Seasons per year, with a rainy season that runs from August to January and another that lasts from February to July. Such a double Rainy Season is common close to the equator, where the Sun is highest overhead around the equinoxes and lowest on the horizons around the solstices, making the solstices the coolest part of the year and the equinoxes the hottest.

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Ghanaian government bans mining in forest reserves.

The Ghanaian Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology has re-imposed a ban on small-scale mining in forest reserves in order to halt deforestation and protect natural water bodies. Ghana is Africa's largest producer of gold, but, as in many other countries, much of the gold is extracted by large companies, who contribute to the national revenue but employ a relatively low number of workers, leading to the impression amongst much of the population that they are not benefiting from the industry. Since a large section of the Ghanaian population lacks formal employment, being dependent on subsistence farming, fishing, or 'hustling' (participation in the informal economy), this can be a matter of contention, and has led to frequent raids on mining concessions by informal, artisanal miners.

Damage caused by an illegal mining camp in the Neung Forest Reserve in Ghana's Western Region. Festus Randy Jackson-Davis/Pan African Visions.

In an effort to combat this, in 2022 the Ghanaian Government introduced the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, which allowed small scale mining in forest reserves, under a permit system. However, three years on, widespread, and unregulated, artisanal mining is reported to have led to environmental damage in 13 of the 16 regions of Ghana, in places threatening waterways vital for the country's Cocoa crops, while mining companies still report incursions onto their property. This in turn has led to a campaign by environmental groups in the country to reimpose the banning of mining in these areas.

The Ghanaian authorities plan to unveil a new, more tightly controlled system of permits for small-scale mines in the country, in line with the system of timber licensing it introduced earlier this year. It remains to be seen, however, how well the government will be able to enforce these new regulations, and to what extent they will be accepted by sections of the population with few other options for income generation.

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Two teenagers killed in collapse at Sierra Leone gold mine.

Two teenagers have died in a pit collapse at an artisanal mine in Eastern Province, Sierra Leone. Mohamed Bangura (16) and Yahyah Janneh (17), from the village of Nyimbadu, had skipped school to work at the mine, one of the few ways to own a cash income in the remote village. Yahyah Janneh's mother, Namina, admits to having encouraged her son to mine gold, as a widow needing the extra income to help support her other children, but says that she would not have wanted him to go to the pit where he was killed, as this was known to be dangerous.

Yahyah Janneh (17), killed in a mine collapse in Eastern Province, Sierra Leone, in December 2025. Namina Jenneh/BBC.

The incident comes at the height of the West African rainy season, which often causes problems in Sierra Leone. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall. However the situation has been made worse in Sierra Leone since the civil war of the 1990s, since when the country has effectively been bankrupt and unable to invest in maintenance of roads or infrastructure, despite being one of the most mineral rich countries of Africa.

The government of Sierra Leone has made the decision to invest heavily in education, seeing it as a way to provide people with a means to improve their own situations, and of creating a workforce able to help address the country's many problems. It currently spends about 8.9% of GDP on education, compared to an average of about 3.5% of GDP across the West and Central Africa regions, 5.59% in the US, 4.1% in the UK, and 4.7% in the EU. However, because of Sierra Leone's low GDP, this does mean that the amount spent on education per child is lower than in many African countries. Sierra Leone spent 34% of its domestic budget on education and 52.41% on debt servicing in 2023, the last year for which statistics are available.

Keeping children in school presents an additional challenge; many rural communities in Sierra Leone are dependent on subsistence farming, which provides little or no cash income, while working in artisanal mines can produce an income of around US$3.50 per week (less than half the theoretical minimum wage for Sierra Leone), with the potential for occasional bonanzas producing tens of dollars at a time. Against this background, many children (and some teachers) chose to skip school to work in minefields, repeating the country's cycle of poor educational achievement and subsequent low incomes.

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At least 32 miners killed in incident in Lualaba Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.

At least 32 people have died, with some sources giving a larger number of 49, following the collapse of a makeshift bridge at a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The incident happened at the Kalando Cobalt Mine in Lualaba Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Saturday 15 November 2025, following an incursion at the mine by wildcat miners. The mine was closed at the time following heavy rains, which had led to concerns about the danger of landslides, but like many mines in the area is prone to incursions by informal miners, who take advantage of any suspension of regular activities. 

On this occasion the miners had entered the mine via bridge over a flooded trench to enter the site. However, soldiers who had been deployed to guard the mine fired upon these miners, injuring two and causing a panic which led to a large number of people trying to cross the bridge at once. While this was happening one of the walls of the open pit mine collapsed, with the subsequent landslide hitting the bridge.

The moment a landslide hit a bridge covered at a mine in Lualaba Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. AlJazeera. 

Informal artisanal mining is common in many parts of Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, which like may other countries has granted concessions to mining companies in areas where small-scale artisanal mining has traditionally helped to supplement the incomes of subsistence farmers. However, little of the money from such projects tends to reach local communities, which often leads to ill feeling and attempts to continue mining clandestinely, often at night or under other unfavourable conditions, which can put the miners at greater risk.

Artisanal miners at the Kalando site that until 2018, they had been free to operate as they pleased, but since that time the site had been taken over by a company with links to the family of President Felix Tshisekedi, as well as Chinese business interests. The Congolese Government claims that it has tried to exclude untrained miners from the site precisely because it feared an incident of this type.

Cobalt is a critical component of lithium batteries, which are used in technologies such as mobile phones and electric cars. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the world's largest producer of cobalt, but the industry is notoriously unregulated, with repeated reports of widespread forced labour, often of children, of workers being exposed to hazardous chemicals, and environmental destruction. Most of the extracted cobalt is exported to China, where it is used to manufacture electrical goods. 

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