Three miners have been found dead at the Nornickel-operated Taimyr Nickel mine in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia. The men were discovered 1345 m bellow the ground in the 1532 m deep mine on the Taimyr Peninsula, within the Arctic Peninsula, at about 4.30 pm local time on Tuesday 22 October 2019, having apparently asphyxiated. One of the dead men had apparently set out to look for the others after they had initially gone missing. All three were carrying unused breathing equipment, suggesting that they were caught unaware by the gas that killed them. There was no sign of any collapse within the mine.
The Taimyr Nickel mine in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia. Russia Travel Blog.
The cause of the incident has yet to be determined. Pockets of gas,
which can be exposed by blasting or other excavation activity are a
problem in all underground mines. Typically when a seam containing pressurised gas is cut into it bursts,
releasing the pressure and throwing large blocks of coal into the faces
of the miners, often with fatal results. Thus although the gas involved
is flammable it does not actually need to ignite to cause fatalities. However gas can seep into mines less dramatically, with potentially fatal consequences if it is not noticed. Mine gas is more usually associated with coal pits, where it is produced
by compression of the coal, driving of volatile organic compounds, but
can affect other forms of mine.
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