Mali gold mine collapse: More than 70 dead after an unregulated mine collapses

A gold mine in Mali has collapsed, claiming the lives of a number of workers. Photo / Getty Images

An official in Mali says more than 70 people are dead after an unregulated gold mine collapsed late last week, and a search continues amid fears the toll could rise.

Karim Berthe, a senior official at the Mali government’s National Geology and Mining Directorate, confirmed the details to The Associated Press on Wednesday and called it an accident.

It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse and which was reported in a Ministry of Mines statement that estimated “several” miners were dead. The collapse occurred in Kangaba district in the southwestern Koulikoro region.

Such accidents are common in Mali, Africa’s third-largest gold producer. Artisanal miners — small-scale, informal ones — are often accused of ignoring safety measures, especially in remote areas.

“The state must bring order to this artisanal mining sector to avoid these kinds of accidents in the future,” Berthe said.

The Ministry of Mines statement “deeply regretted” the collapse and urged miners as well as communities living near mining sites to “comply with safety requirements”.

In recent years, there have been concerns that profits from unregulated mining in northern Mali could benefit Islamic extremists active in that part of the country.

The region of this latest collapse, however, is far to the south of that and closer to the capital, Bamako.

“Gold is by far Mali’s most important export, comprising more than 80 per cent of total exports in 2021,” according to the International Trade Administration with the US Department of Commerce. It says more than two million people, or over 10 per cent of Mali’s population, depend on the mining sector for income.

The Ministry of Mines has estimated that the country has 800 tons in gold deposits.