At least 48 deaths following collapse at gold mine in western Mali.

At least 48 people, most of them women and including at least one infant, have died in a collapse at a gold mine at Bilali Koto near the town of Kéniéba in the Kayes Region of western Mali on Saturday 15 February 2025. The incident is reported to have happened at an abandoned open-pit mine formerly operated by a Chinese company, which the women had entered to pan for gold, a traditional income-generating activity for women in the dry season in western Mali, and neighbouring parts of Senegal and Guinea, caried out since at least the time of the (famously gold-rich) medieval Mali Empire.

The approximate location of the 15 February 2025 Mali gold mine collapse. Google Maps.

Artisanal mining is widespread in many parts of Africa. It is often referred to as 'illicit', though in an area with little formal employment this is somewhat unfair, with local people viewing small scale mining as a traditional way of gaining some hard cash. The area is covered by poorly consolidated alluvial (river) sediments, washed out from the mineral rich Fouta Djallon Highlands, in neighbouring Guinea, since the last ice age. These loose sediments can be excavated and panned to produce small amounts of gold and diamonds. This can be a dangerous task, as sediments close to the surface are likely to have been worked by previous generations of villagers, requiring deeper pits to be dug into the, often waterlogged, sediments, with the accompanying risk of pit collapses. The Bilali Koto mine appears to have been originally excavated by a Chinese firm using machinery, but following its abandonment to have been entered by local women using artisanal tools.

West Africa has a distinct two season climatic cycle, with a cool dry season during the northern winter when prevalent winds blow from the Sahara to the northeast, and a warm rainy season during the northern summer when prevalent winds blow from the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. These warm winds from the Atlantic are laden with moisture, which can be lost rapidly when the air encounters cooler conditions, such as when it is pushed up to higher altitudes by the Futa Jallon Mountains of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Rainfall and prevalent winds during the West African dry and rainy seasons. Encyclopaedia Britanica.

See also...

Three killed in collapse at gold mine in Niger State, Nigeria.

Three people have been killed in a collapse at a gold mine in the Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria, on Thursday, 13 June 2024. The mine is understood to have been an illegal (or at least informal) pit dug by local villagers, which collapsed when the surrounding sediments became soft following the onset of the seasonal rains. Details of the deceased are not known, but informal mines in the area are predominantly worked by women and children.

An informal mine in the  Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria, where a sediment collapse killed three people on Thursday 13 June 2024. AIT Live.

The incident comes a week after another mine collapse in Niger State, in which 20 people were trapped underground in a collapse at a larger pit mine run by African Minerals and Logistics Limited at Galadima Kogo in the Shiroro Local Government Area on Monday 3 June. Seven of the miners were subsequently rescued, but the rest are now feared to have perished. This collapse was also triggered by sediments being softened by rain.

Rescue workers at the scene of a mine collapse at Galadima Kogo in the Shiroro Local Government Area on Monday 3 June 2024. Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.

West Africa has a distinct two season climatic cycle, with a cool dry season during the northern winter when prevalent winds blow from the Sahara to the northeast, and a warm rainy season during the northern summer when prevalent winds blow from the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. These warm winds from the Atlantic are laden with moisture, which can be lost rapidly when the air encounters cooler conditions, such as when it is pushed up to higher altitudes by the Jos Plateau of central Nigeria and Shebshi Mountains on the border with Cameroon.

Rainfall and prevalent winds during the West African dry and rainy seasons. Encyclopaedia Britanica.

Informal artisanal mining is common in many parts of Africa, including Nigeria, 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.

See also...

Rescue workers in Turkey search for mineworkers trapped beneath landslide.

Hundreds of rescue workers have been deployed to a mine in eastern Turkey following a landslide on Tuesday 13 February 2024. The event happened when a spoil heap from the open-pit gold mine collapsed, leading several hundred tonnes of cyanide-laced soil to flow down into the mine site. Nine workers are reported to still be trapped within the mine, five within a shipping container, one inside a truck, and three in another vehicle. Concerns have been raised that cyanide from the mine may enter the Euphrates River, which runs close to the mine in the İliç District of Erzincan Province, then though Syria and Iraq before entering the Persian Gulf. Authorities in Turkey report damming a stream which flows from the mine to the Euphrates, and carrying out ongoing monitoring of the river.

Military personnel near the site of a gold mine hit by a landslide in Erzincan, Turkey. Ugur Yildirim/Getty Images.

The incident happened at the Çöpler Mine, which is operated by Anagold Madencilik, a subsidiary of the American SSR Mining. The mine has previously faced calls for its closure over an apparently poor safety record, following a cyanide leak in 2020, when the Euphrates was affected. On that occasion the mine was fined 16.5 million Turkish lire (US$537 000), but allowed to resume operating in 2022, despite objections from a range of organisations, including the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects, which includes the Chamber of Mining Engineers. Operations at the mine have been suspended pending an investigation. Four members of staff, including the pit's field manager, have been arrested as part of the investigation.

See also...

Seventh largest diamond ever found discovered in Botswana.

The Lucara Diamond Company has announced discovering what is believed to be the seventh largest diamond ever found at its Karowe Mine in eastern Botswana, in a press release issued on 8 August 2023. The diamond is described as weighing 1080.1 carats (216.02 g), and to measure 82.2 x 42.8 x 34.2 mm. Importantly, the gemstone is reported to be a Type IIa top white diamond, which is to say a diamond with almost no impurities, a type of diamond which make up only about 1-2% of all diamonds discovered, and which are correspondingly more valuable than other diamonds of similar size. 

The new Lucara diamond. Lucara Diamonds.

The largest diamond ever found is the Sergio Diamond, found at Lençóis in Bahia State Brazil, in 1895, by Sérgio Borges de Carvalho, after whom it is named, which weighed 3167 carat (633.4 g). Surprisingly, the Sergio Diamond was not found within a diamond mine, but on the surface. The Sergio Diamond was a carbonado, a type of diamond with a black colour, a micro-porous structure, and a high graphite and amorphous carbon content, as well as frequently containing inclusions of other minerals or metals. Notably, some of the inclusions found in carbonado diamonds are extremely rare on Earth, and they have very low proportions of the isotope carbon¹³ compared to other diamonds, as well as radioactive inclusions, again not found in other diamonds. All caronado diamonds subjected to uranium-lead isotope dating have been found to be about 3 billion years old, and almost all carbonado diamonds come from two locations, Brazil and the Central African Republic. This has led to speculation that these diamonds are derived from an extra-terrestrial body which impacted the Earth in the distant past, although no hypothesis as to how such a body could have formed has ever gained widespread acceptance. Because of their hardness, carbonado diamonds were widely sought for use in drill bits in the nineteenth century, although they have been replaced by more modern materials today. Despite its exceptional size (most carbonado diamonds are smaller than a pea), the Sergio Diamond was sold for £6400 in London in September 1895, then broken up to make diamond drill bits.

An engraving of the Sergio Diamond published in Popular Science Monthly in 1906. Wikimedia Commons.

The second largest diamond ever discovered, and the largest gemstone-quality diamond, was rhe Cullinan Diamond found at Cullinan in what is now Gauteng Province, South Africa, in April 1905, which weighed 3106 carat (621.2 g) when it was found. The Cullinan Diamond was purchased by Louis Botha, the Prime Minister of the Transvaal Colony, and given to the British King Edward VII, who had it cut into nine large gemstones and a number of smaller fragments known as 'The Brilliants'. The largest of these cut stones, known as Cullinan I or the Star of Africa, has a mass of 530.4 carat, and is mounted on the Sceptre with Cross, part of the British Crown Jewels, which is carried by the monarch at their coronation.

(Left) The uncut Cullinan Diamond in 1908. (Right) The Star of Africa Diamond in the Sceptre wirh Cross in 1919. Wikimedia Commons.

The third largest diamond ever found is the Sewelô Diamond, recovered at Lucara's Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana in April 2019, which weighs 1758 carats (352 g). This was the largest diamond ever found in Botswana, and its name was chosen by a competition organised by Lucara, meaning 'rare find' in Setswana. The Sewelô Diamond was purchased by the French fashion house Louis Vuitton, with the intention of having it cut into smaller gems.

The Sewelô Diamond. The diamond has a black crust formed of pitted carbon, but is gemstone quality beneath. Lucara Diamonds.

The fourth largest diamond ever discovered is an unnamed diamond found at Lucara's Karowe Mine in June 2021. This diamond had a mass of 1174.76 carats, and measuring 77 x 55 x 33 mm. This gem is considered to be of variable quality, although with a significant proportion of high quality diamond.

An unnamed diamond found at Karowe Mine in June 2021. Lucara Diamonds.

The fifth largest diamond ever discovered was the Lesedi De Rona Diamond, found at the Karowe Mine in November 2015. Like the new diamond, this was a Type IIa top white diamond, and has a mass of 1111 carat (222.2 g) when it was found. At that time, it was the largest diamond ever found in Botswana, and the third largest diamond ever found, prompting Lucara Mining to organise a national competition in Botswana to chose a name. The winning name, Lesedi De Rona, translates as 'Our Light' in Setswana, and was chosen by Thembani Moitlhobogi of Mmadikola. The diamond was purchased by the London-based jeweller Graff, and cut to form one large diamond, the 302.37 carat Graff Lesedi De Rona Diamond, and 66 smaller gemstones.

The uncut Lesedi De Rona Diamond in 2015. Lucara Diamonds.

The sixth largest diamond ever discovered was found at the Debswana-owned Jwaneng Mine in southern Botswana in June 2021, and had a mass of 1098 carat (219.6 g), measuring 73 x 52 x 27 mm. 

The unnamed diamond found at Debswana's Jwaneng Mine in southern Botswana in June 2021. Reuters.

Thus, the new diamond is the seventh largest diamond ever discovered, the sixth largest gemstone quality diamond ever discovered, the sixth largest diamond ever found in Africa, the fifth largest diamond ever found in Botswana, the fourth largest diamond extracted from the Karowe Mine, and one of only seven diamonds ever found with a mass of greater than 1000 carat. 

That five of these seven diamonds have been found in Botswana, and four of them from a single mine, since 2015 is not a coincidence. but marks the introduction of new technology pioneered at the Karowe Mine. Modern mines typically use crushing machinery to extract diamonds from their parent rock, but this is generally thought to break up a significant proportion of larger diamonds. The Karowe Mine uses X-ray fluorescence technology to scan ore before it passes into the crushing equipment, thus allowing for the machinery to be stopped and particularly large diamonds to be recovered. 

Flow chart showing the processing and sorting of diamonds at the Karowe Mine. Lucara Diamonds.

See also...

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Twitter.

Police begin to remove protesters from German village scheduled to be destroyed for coal mine expansion.

Police in North Rhine-Westphalia have begun to remove protesters from the village of Lützerath, which is scheduled to be destroyed by an expansion of the Garzweiler Coal Mine. The twelfth century village was abandoned by its original occupants two years ago, following an unsuccessful legal battle against the mine's expansion, but the village was subsequently occupied by activists concerned about the levels of atmospheric pollution likely to be caused by extracting and burning the coal.

Police officers surrounding climate protesters in the village of Lützerath in North Rhine-Westphalia this week. Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters.

Coal, like other fossil fuels (hydrocarbons), can be burned to produce energy, producing carbon dioxide as a product. Atmospheric carbon dioxide absorbs energy from sunlight and releases it as light in the infrared part of the spectrum, which we encounter as heat (all gas molecules will tend to absorb energy then release it as light at a specific wavelength, the blue colour of the sky reflects the wavelength at which nitrogen, the majority component of the Earth's atmosphere, releases energy, while the red colour of sunsets and sunrises is caused by oxygen). This has become problematic as the huge amounts of fossil fuels burned by Human industry in the past two centuries have led to an increase in the proportion of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, leading to global changes in climate. 

Coal is a particularly troublesome fuel as the extraction process often involves clearing huge areas of ground surface, which are then unusable without significant remediation work, and releases large amounts of particulate matter, itself a pollutant which can cause lung disease, into the local atmosphere, as well as large quantities of methane, another greenhouse gas and the cause of many explosions and poison gas incidents in deep pit coal mines.

The Garzweiler Mine, like most coal mines in Germany produces brown lignite coal, which is a 'low maturity' coal, which has not been buried as deeply or for as long as other coals, and therefore is less pure than high maturity coals, which have had most of the non-carbon material squeezed out of them. In practice, this means that low maturity coals have a higher sulphur content than high maturity coals, which when the coal is burned forms sulphur dioxide gas, which can dissolve in water droplets suspended in clouds to form a dilute sulphuric acid, which falls as acid rain, adding to the negative environmental impact of using this coal as a fuel.

Due to this higher environmental impact, authorities in Germany had been looking to reduce the amount of coal mined and burned within the country, by switching to power generation methods with a lower environmental impact. Some of this alternative provision came in the form of renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power, but a lot of production was simply switched from coal to cheap natural gas (methane) imported with Russia. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the strong support that Germany offered to Ukraine during this crisis, supplies of gas reaching Germany were first reduced and then completely cut off, causing the German Government to return to coal use as a way of maintaining electricity generation.

RWE, the company which operates the mine, had been planning to remove Lützerath, and several other villages in the area, from the map for some years, although this plan was hampered by the country's political ambition to reduce greenhouse emissions and switch to cleaned energy. However, following the development of the Russian crisis, coal has come after consideration again, and following talks with RWE in October, the Robert Habek, the German minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, took the decision to allow RWE to excavate at Lützerath, although this was accompanied by a pledge to prevent the demolition of five other villages in the area, which RWE had hoped to remove, and the bringing forward of a goal to end all coal production in North Rhine-Westphalia from 2038 to 2030.

This news was met with great dismay by environmentalists in Germany and across Europe, who had hoped that Habek, a member of the Green Party serving in Olaf Scholz's coalition government, would resist calls to return to coal production as a way of meeting the country's energy needs.

Shortly after this, many additional protesters began to arrive at the site, joining the protesters already camped there, and improving on and extending the network of defences there. This was followed by a war of words between RWE, the German Federal Police, and the climate protesters, with the coal mining company claiming that the protesters are illegal squatters, while the protesters claim that the unfolding climate crisis justifies their actions.

Protesters building barricades around the village of Lützerath. Fabian Ritter/DOCKS Collective/Washington Post.

On Monday 9 January 2023 a court gave the police permission to clear the site, and following a series of orders for the protesters to leave, they entered the village on Wednesday 11 January. The majority of the protesters agreed to leave peacefully once police entered the site, but some were less co-operative, barricading themselves inside buildings, or climbing trees and improvised structures to make themselves harder to remove. Witnesses have reported some protesters throwing rocks and bottles at the police, while the police claim to have also been attacked with petrol bombs.

See also...

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Twitter.