Investigation is currently underway at the Los Cedros coal mine to determine the cause of the incident
The Los Cedros coal mine is located in the El Zulia municipality of northeastern Colombia. (Credit: hangela/Pixabay)
An explosion at the Los Cedros coal mine in the El Zulia municipality of northeastern Colombia has killed nine miners.
An investigation is currently being carried out by the respective authorities to determine the cause of the incident, which occurred on 31 July.
Meanwhile, efforts are underway to rescue the three trapped workers at the mine, reported Xinhua.
Gas accumulation inside the mine triggered the blast
El Zulia municipality Risk Management Office director Angelmiro Berbesi was reported by the news agency as saying that gas accumulation inside the mine has resulted in the explosion.
According to the National Mining Agency, the bodies of nine miners have been retrieved from the mine.
A mine rescue team of 12 people worked together with three engineers and two mechanics from the mining body to release the accumulated gasses and drain water well, in order to recover the nine bodies, reported mining.com.
The National Prosecutor’s Office plans to commence investigation at the underground mine, which was not fully licensed, as per the National Mining Agency.
Last year, Canadian miner Antioquia Gold announced the start of production at the Cisneros Mine located in Antioquia department in Colombia.
Located 80km northeast from Medellin, the Cisneros Mine hosts a structurally controlled mesothermal lode gold system. The gold deposit comprises 10 concessions spread over 5,630ha.
The company plans to mine the Guaico and Guayabito vein areas by the cut and fill method and the Nus structures by Long Open Stoping method.
The mining rate at the project was expected to yield an average of 15,000 t/month of mineralized material.