The Swedish-Canadian mining group Boliden, has announced that Boliden Apirsa, its subsidiary company in Spain, is filing for bankruptcy proceedings.

Boliden Apirsa, operates the Los Frailes zinc mine in southern Spain, where the failure of a tailings dam in April 1998 spilt nearly 7M m3 of toxic waste just outside Donana National Park, Europe’s largest nature reserve.

Geotechnical studies have revealed that the tailings spill was caused by the slippage of bedrock 14m below the ground surface. The case is currently awaiting a decision by a Spanish judge to see if there could be a case for criminal charges.