Explosion at coal mine in Shanxi Province, China, kills at least 82 people.

At least 82 miners have died in an explosion at a coal mine in Shanxi Province, China, on Saturday 23 May 2026. The incident happened at Liushenyu Coal Mine in Qinyuan County slightly before 7.30 pm local time at which 247 workers were below ground. The majority of those have now been evacuated, with 128 people being treated in hospital, two of whom are described as being in a serious condition and two more still missing. 

Rescue workers arriving at Liushenyu Coal Mine in Shanxi Province, China, following an explosion at a coal mine on 23 May 2026. Zhu Xingxin/China Daily.

Survivors of the incident report seeing a dust plume rather than hearing an explosion, accompanied by a strong sulphurous smell and then many people blacking out. The majority of those killed and injured are reported to have been affected by gas poisoning. 

Coal is formed when buried organic material, principally wood, in heated and pressurised, forcing off hydrogen and oxygen (i.e. water) and leaving more-or-less pure carbon. Methane is formed by the decay of organic material within the coal. There is typically little pore-space within coal, but the methane can be trapped in a liquid form under pressure. Some countries have started to extract this gas as a fuel in its own right. When this pressure is released suddenly, as by mining activity, then the methane turns back to a gas, expanding rapidly causing, an explosion. This is a bit like the pressure being released on a carbonated drink; the term 'explosion' does not necessarily imply fire in this context, although as methane is flammable this is quite likely.

Chinese authorities have dispatched six specialist rescue teams to the site, with a total of 345 personnel and a number of specialist robots capable of entering mines inaccessible to Human rescuers. These have found flooding in the area where the explosion took place, as well as high carbon monoxide levels throughout much of the mine. They have also found that the blueprints of the mine provided by its owners, the Tongzhou Group, do not match the actual layout. 

The mine's management, which have previously been given penalties for administrative failures twice in 2025, are now under investigation for a number of breaches, including developing new coal faces which were not on plans, falsification of health and safety documentation, poor employee records, and illegal uses of subcontractors. Four other mines operated by the Tongzhou Group have been temporarily closed, and mines across Shanxi Province are being subjected to emergency inspections.

Historically, the Chinese coal industry has been beset by safety problems, at least in part due to the rapid expansion of the industry to fuel the country's industrialisation. In the past two decades a major drive towards introducing safety measures combined with a switch away from coal towards renewable sources of energy has reduced the number of such incidents. However, coal is still a major industry, with about a quarter of the coal extracted in China coming from Shanxi Province, and safety clearly still remains a problem.

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South African diamond mining company files for bankruptcy after five miners killed in flood.

South African mining company Ekapa Minerals has filed for liquidation following the death of five miners at its Ekapa Joint Shaft Mine at Kimberly in Northern Cape Province, South Africa, on 17 February 2026. The miners have been missing presumed dead since a slurry of water and mud rapidly filled the section of the mine where they were working. The area where the incident occurred was located 890 m below ground, and had only recently been opened up, and life support systems had been installed, but the sudden nature of the flood has led the mine operators to conclude that the incident was not survivable, and, following several days of attempts to reach and clear the site, that there is little hope of recovering the bodies of the lost miners.

A mine rescue team entering the Ekapa Joint Shaft Mine site this week. SABC News.

Floods and inrushes typically occur when miners accidentally break through into pockets of water and gas trapped within rocks. Since such buried waters are often under high pressure due to the weight of rocks above them, they tend to escape into the mine rapidly, and on occasion explosively, leading to a highly dangerous situation in which miners are often rapidly overwhelmed. Such inrushes can also occur when miners encounter flooded disused mineworkings, a danger in areas where mining has occurred for a long time but good records have not been kept. The Ekapa mine had a history of flood inrush events, and the company had been warned by a parliamentary committee in 2025 that steps needed to be taken to avoid future events of this kind.

The Ekapa Joint Shaft Mine site. SABC News.

The closure of the mine is predicted to result in the loss of about 1200 jobs, a crisis for the city of Kimberly, which has a population of just under 97 000 people, and is already suffering from high unemployment rates due to the decline of the diamond industry. Furthermore, workers from the site report that they have not received their salaries for the month of February 2026, placing many of the in a very difficult situation financially. 

Ekapa Minerals purchased the Joint Shaft Mine from mining giant De Beers in 2016, and at the time of closure it was the last surviving diamond mine in Kimberly. In theory, the site could be sold on to another mining company following the liquidation process, but it is unclear if a buyer will be found given the mine's problems and a fluctuating diamond market.

The location of Kimberley in Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Google Maps.

Kimberly was founded in the 1870s following the discovery of diamonds in the area, and rapidly became a centre of wealth in the Cape Colony, opening South Africa's first stock exchange in 1881, and becoming the second city in the world to install electric street lighting the following year. However, in recent years the city's mines have closed one-by-one as the industry has become less viable. The long history of mining in the area means that there are no diamonds left close to the surface, and while they can still be found at greater depths, these are generally fairly small, making it hard for these mines to compete with either shallow, open pit mines elsewhere, or artificial lab-grown diamonds.

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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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Protesters block entrance to mine project site in Norway.

A group of protesters from the environmental group Nature and Youth have blocked entrances to a mining project in the Hammerfest Municipality in Finnmark County on the northern coast of Norway. The group of about 70 protesters from all over Norway have took the step on Saturday 24 January 2026 in support of the local Sámi community, who believe that traditional fisheries for Salmon and Cod are threatened by the project. Protests of this kind are illegal in Norway, and previous protests at the site have led to protesters being detained by the police.

The location of Hammerfest Municipality the north coast of Norway. Google Maps.

The mining project, which is operated by Blue Moon Metals, aims to excavate around 74 million tonnes of copper ore from a deep pit mine beneath a former open pit mine, which was active in the 1970s. The Norwegian government has approved this project because it considers copper a vital resource for a transition to green technologies (i.e. replacing fossil fuel-derived energy with electricity generated by renewable means). 

However, the planned operation intends to dump waste generated from the mine into Repparfjord, an important fishing ground for the local Sámi community, who believe that this is likely to have a significant affect on local fish stocks. The practice of dumping mine waste into the sea is still legal in Norway, but is illegal almost everywhere else (the only other countries which allow the practice are Indonesia, Turkey and Papua New Guinea).

Protesters blocking an entrance to the Nussir Mining Project in northern Norway on 24 January 2026. The banner reads 'We promise a hell - no dumping of tailing in the Repperfjord'. Jannik Abel/Nature and Youth.

Blue Moon Minerals, who acquired the site in February 2025, aim to mine the site in line with a mining permit issued to the former owners, Nussir Property, a decade ago, but Nature and Youth argue that significant new discoveries have been made about fish spawning in Repparfjord have been issued since this time, and that on that basis the mine should not be allowed to proceed. 

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