Sciency Thoughts: Twelve miners now known to be alive following explosion at Chinese gold mine on 10 January 2021.

Wednesday 20 January 2021

Twelve miners now known to be alive following explosion at Chinese gold mine on 10 January 2021.

Rescuers trying to reach a group of miners missing since an underground explosion at a gold mine in Shandong Province, China, on 10 January 2020 have now made contact with eleven of the men, with the fate of a further eleven being unknown. The rescuers have managed to get food and medicine to the men, who are trapped more than 500 m below the ground, by lowering it through a newly drilled ventilation shaft, and received a note reading 'Don't stop trying to reach us' in return. Contact has also now been made by telephone. The miners contacted reported that they had initially been in contact with another miner trapped in a lower shaft, but that this contact has now been lost, raising concerns about his survival in a mine where water levels are said to be rising.

Rescue workers clearing debris at a mine in Shandong Province following an explosion on 10 January 2021. Xinhua.

The situation is reported to have been made worse by the failure of the mine's owners, Shandong Wucailong Investment, to report the mine to local authorities until about 30 hours after the initial explosion, a breach of China's mining laws, which require more-or-less immediate reporting of such incidents. The mine's operators apparently initially tried to resolve the situation themselves, only calling for help once it became clear that mounting a rescue was beyond their capabilities. Two of the mine's managers have been arrested following the incident, and several local party officials have been removed from their posts.

Rescue workers drilling a hole at a mine in Shandong Province, China, in an effort to reach 22 miners trapped below ground since an explosion on 10 January 2020. Xinhua.

The rescue workers are now in regular contact with the trapped miners, via six waterproof telephones that have been lowered into the pit. Most of those that have been reached are described as well, although weakened by their ordeal, although one man is in a coma after receiving severe head injuries. The men are being fed with meals of nutrient solution and millet congee passed through the new drill holes, and have also received thermometers and blankets. Rescue attempts are reportedly being hampered by the hardness of the rocks above the trapped miners, and the presence of two aquifers, also above the miners, drilling through which has the potential to flood the mineshafts below.