This is a list of gold mining disasters including environmental, such as those arising due to dam failure, cyanide leakage into the environment, as well as inappropriate environmental toxic waste discharge due to the gold cyanidation technique used in gold mining. Other disasters at gold mines such as those resulting in loss of life are also listed.

Year Mine Location Majority Owner Company Location Details
1882 Creswick  Australia New Australasian Gold Mine disaster: Australia's worst below-ground gold mining disaster.[1]
1971 Certej Mine  Romania 1971 Certej dam failure: A dam failure resulted in the leak of 300,000 cubic metres of cyanide-contaminated flood Certeju de Sus, resulting in 89 deaths.
1984-2013 Ok Tedi Mine  Papua New Guinea Broken Hill Proprietary Co.  Australia Ok Tedi environmental disaster: Unrestricted waste discharges from the mine had strong effects on the environment and the 50,000 people who live downstream. Over 2 billion tons of untreated mining waste were thus discharged.
1984-2013 Summitville mine  USA Galactic Resources  Canada A Canadian-based company used gold cyanidation process to extract gold, resulted in 610,000 m³ of stored toxic water. Following the company's bankruptcy, the US government spent over $155 million to clean the site.
1995 Omai mine  Guyana Omai Gold Mines (subsidiary of Cambior)  Canada 3 million cubic metres of cyanide-tainted waste was spilled into the Omai river and then the Essequibo river following a dam failure.[2]
1996 Mt. Tapian  The Philippines Marcopper Mining  Canada Marcopper mining disaster: A fracture of the drainage tunnel for a tailings pit led to discharge of toxic waste into Makulapnit-Boac river system, causing large-scale destruction of crops, burying one village with mud and requiring 20 other villages to be evacuated.
1998 Kumtor Gold Mine  Kyrgyzstan Centerra Gold  Canada A truck carrying 1,762 kg of sodium cyanide fell into the Barskaun River. An international independent group of experts studied the impact of the accident and concluded that no one was killed or poisoned as a result of the accident.[3]
2000 Baia Mare  Romania Esmerelda Exploration Limited  Australia 2000 Baia Mare cyanide spill: A dam failure resulted in the leak of 100,000 cubic metres of cyanide-contaminated water which spilled into the Someş and Tisza. Pollution flowed into Europe's second largest river, the Danube, and finally into the Black Sea, across six countries. Hungary asserted the spill killed 1,241 tonnes of fish in Hungary alone.[4]
2000 Tolukuma gold mine  Papua New Guinea Dome Resources  Australia A one-tonne cyanide crate fell from a helicopter into the jungle, while heavy rain in the area washed 100–150 kg of it into a river.[5]
2006 Beaconsfield gold mine  Australia Beaconsfield Mine collapse: 1 miner was killed and 2 were trapped underground for a fortnight.[6]
2009 Ahafo gold mine  Ghana Newmont Mining  USA Overflow of process solution containing sodium cyanide occurred within the processing plant site at Newmont Ghana's open pit Ahafo Mine. This resulted in water contamination and fish mortality.[7]
5 August 2015 Gold King Mine  USA  USA 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill: In Silverton, Colorado, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) personnel, along with workers for Environmental Restoration LLC, caused the release of toxic waste water into the Animas River watershed.[8]
2015 Veladero mine, San Juan province  Argentina Barrick Gold  Canada 1,072 cubic meters of cyanide solution reached the Potrerillos River due to a valve failure.[9]
2019 Kampine mine, Kampine town, Maniema Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo 22 illegal miners dead in an illegally run mine.[10]
2020 Kamituga mine, Kamitung town, South Kivu Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo 50+ dead due to mine collapse caused by heavy rain. Three tunnels to the mine was blocked because of the heavy flow of water.[11]
7 November 2021 Kondago village  Niger  Niger Niger gold mine collapse - 30+ miners killed.[12]
21 February 2022 Gbomblora  Burkina Faso Informal site  Burkina Faso Gbomblora explosion - 60 people killed; over 100 people were injured.[13]

References

  1. ^ Design, UBC Web. "Australasian Mining Disaster | Creswick Museum". www.creswickmuseum.org.au. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  2. ^ "Cyanide from mine threatens Guyana river", The Independent, August 23, 1995
  3. ^ "The International Scientific Commission's Assessment of the Impact of the Cyanide Spill at Barskaun, Kyrgyz Republic, May 20, 1988" (PDF). www.centerragold.com. 1988. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  4. ^ "Hungary to sue Australian company over cyanide spill". ABC. 2000-07-11. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  5. ^ "Cyanide seeps into PNG rivers", BBC, March 23, 2000
  6. ^ "Grave concerns held for trapped miners. 26/04/2006. ABC News Online". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-04-27. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  7. ^ "Newmont Gold Mine to Pay Ghana Millions for Cyanide Spill". Environment News Service. 2010-01-22. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  8. ^ "Silverton to seek federal cleanup help after Gold King Mine disaster - 7NEWS Denver TheDenverChannel.com". 2015-09-06. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  9. ^ "Barrick's cyanide spill five times larger". Buenos Aires Herald. 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  10. ^ Adebayo, Bukola (3 October 2019). "At least 22 killed in Congo gold mine collapse, authorities say". CNN.
  11. ^ "At least 50 killed in collapsed gold mine in east Congo, says NGO". The Guardian. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Niger gold mine death toll rises to 32". The Ghana Report. 2021-11-09. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  13. ^ "About 60 killed in blast at informal gold mine -Burkina Faso state TV". Reuters. 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-03-22.

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