Colombia rescuers race to rescue 25 trapped in collapsed gold mine owned by Canadian firm

A worker pushes a cart of raw materials at a Gran Colombia Gold mine in Marmato, Caldas department, Colombia, on Tuesday, June 29, 2021. Photographer: Edinson Arroyo/Bloomberg

Colombian rescuers raced Tuesday to try to rescue 25 workers trapped 80 metres (262 feet) underground at a gold mine that collapsed in the northwest of the country on Monday night, local authorities said.

The accident took place at a mine in the town of Segovia in Antioquia department, about four hours from the city of Medellin.

“Contact has already been made with the miners, who indicated that they are safe and sound,” Catalina Escobar, a spokesperson for Antioquia department, told AFP.

La Reliquia mining company, which operates the seam on behalf of Canada’s Aris Mining Corporation, confirmed that the workers were receiving “telephone medical assistance” and that all were “in good health.”

Their supply of “food, hydration, and compressed air has been ensured,” it added.

The rescue operation is being conducted by the company’s emergency brigade, with the support of Colombia’s National Mining Agency.

The agency said it expected that the miners would be rescued “during the course of the day.”

La Reliquia said that the mine’s ventilation systems was continuing to function “normally” and that that rescuers had managed to remove nearly half of the debris blocking the mine’s exit.

Mining accidents are frequent in the South American country but usually occur at unlicensed mines, also including coal mines.

On Sunday, seven miners who had been trapped in an illegal gold mine in southwest Colombia were found dead.

The accident took place in an area where guerrilla groups engage in gold mining, as well as in cocaine trafficking.

Aris Mining operates several gold mines in Colombia.

It holds the gold mining concession for the entire Segovia area.