GEOMECHANICS / GROUND CONTROL

Tailings dam spill closes Yichun Luming

A tailings dam spill in northeast China at Yichun Luming Mining has reportedly resulted in the temporarily production closure of the complex and pulling of the operator’s production licence

 The Yichun Luming molybdenum mine. Photo: China Railway Group Limited

The Yichun Luming molybdenum mine. Photo: China Railway Group Limited

According to Reuters, the event on March 28 discharged 2.53 million cubic metres of waste and contaminated neighbouring waters up to 110km away before the leak was plugged on March 31. No fatalities were reported.

Heilongjiang province emergency management in Yichun told the news service that it will withhold the licence until the affected areas are remediated.

It also has confirmed "restrictive measures" against main managers, though it did not elaborate.

Yichun Luming is a subsidiary of state-owned China Railway Resources Group. Neither organisation has made a public statement on the incident.

The open-pit Luming mine, the largest surface molybdenum operation in China, has a production capacity of 15Mt/y.

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