Six university students drowned in an industrial tank during a field trip to a mining operation owned by China’s most prestigious gold producing company, according to state news agency Xinhua.
One teacher was also injured in the incident, which occurred on Wednesday morning at China National Gold Group’s Wunugetushan copper-molybdenum mine in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, it said.
The students, from Northeastern University in Liaoning province, drowned after a grating panel gave way and they fell into a flotation tank. They were pulled from the tank in the mine’s processing plant, but could not be revived, according to Xinhua.
The report did not give further details about the victims or the incident.
State broadcaster CCTV said the regional government would launch an investigation into the incident.
According to the official Jimu News in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the victims were in their third year and majoring in mineral processing engineering.
The report quoted an unnamed student who had previously visited the plant as saying the flotation tank was more than 10 metres (33 feet) tall and filled with slurry – “similar to a mudslide”.
Flotation tanks separate minerals from mined ore, with the targeted minerals attaching to bubbles that float to the surface. The structure is usually made of metal, plastic or wood and features a grating panel.
“There are usually only 20 to 30 employees in the flotation area, but when students and teachers come to visit, the number often exceeds that of the staff present,” the student was quoted as saying.
In a statement on Thursday, China National Gold Group confirmed the fatalities, offering condolences for the victims and apologies to the public.
The company is the only central state-owned firm in China’s gold industry, and was the first Chinese board member of the World Gold Council, according to the company.
The company owns 48 mines and six smelters in China and abroad, including in Africa, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
Quoting a company staff member, state-run China News Weekly reported that operations had stopped at the plant for an investigation.
It said the deceased students were from the university’s school of resources and civil engineering.
According to a post on its social media account on February 25, the Wunugetushan mine had “successfully completed” replacement of the grating panels.
The plant also said in an online post on July 11 that it had just held a safety production meeting reviewing the first half of the year. The company had “consistently insisted on a balanced approach to coordinate development and safety” and “safe production was always the top priority”, it said.
A 2021 article published on the company’s social media account said its Inner Mongolia plant had won the “recognition and affirmation” of Northeastern University as an “Excellent Practical Education Base” for students to gain industry exposure.
It said 50 mining engineering students from the university visited the company’s plant every July to “put their theoretical knowledge into practice” via the on-site teaching programme.
Calls to various departments at the university went unanswered. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
