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Agence France-Presse

Russian rescuers were scrambling to save 13 workers trapped inside a giant gold mine near the Chinese border for a second day on Wednesday, as officials warned of a “difficult situation”.
Russia has said the miners have been stuck since Monday after a rockslide covered them in rubble at the Pioneer mine in the Far Eastern Amur region.
The mine is one of the largest in the world and one of the most productive in Russia.
“The situation remains difficult,” regional governor Vasily Orlov said on social media after visiting the scene.

He has introduced a regional state of emergency and said there has still been no contact with the trapped miners.
Authorities have said they are some 125 metres (more than 400 feet) underground.
Orlov said rescuers from neighbouring regions were also involved in the operation.
Anatoly Suprunovsky, deputy head of Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry, said a fresh team of experienced rescuers from Siberia’s Kuzbas mining region had arrived to help on Wednesday, bringing more specialised equipment.
The ministry posted a video of workers trudging through a light layer of snow in the giant remote mine – wearing white helmets with headlamps. They joined a team of more than 100 other rescuers already working at the site.
‘Rat hole’ miners to the rescue: how trapped India tunnel workers were saved
Officials have already opened an investigation for a suspected breach of safety rules. Lax safety measures have often led to deadly accidents in Russian mines and factories.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin “gave the order to take all necessary measures to save the miners”.
Authorities have posted aerial photographs showing the extent of the rescue mission in the remote mine surrounded by deserted steppes.
Orlov said earlier on Wednesday that rescuers had begun drilling a hole to try to reach the miners.
“Even if the passage does not lead to people, it will be possible to lower a camera into it to assess the situation and lay communication lines,” he said.
There was still “no communication with the miners”, he added. But officials believe they are alive, and Orlov said the trapped group are workers from other regions.

State-owned Izvestia newspaper quoted a relative of one of the miners, who said she was from Sibay – a small town in the Urals region of Bashkortostan region.
“From our town, from Sibay, there are four people there,” the woman, named as Rimma Akhmadeyeeva told the paper.
“The town is small, everyone knows each other. My phone is exploding and on social media [people are] writing, supporting [us],” she added.
“We still hope for a good end, that they are alive. Because they are banging on a pipe, and they are given extra ventilation.”
On Tuesday, Russia’s Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov said: “People who are under the rubble know that people are coming to help them.”
The rescuers were trying to work at “maximum speed” to get through “100-200 metres” every two hours.
Accidents at mines are relatively common in Russia. In 2021, an accident at a coal mine in Siberia claimed the lives of 40 miners.


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Russia

Russian rescuers scramble to save 13 trapped under gold mine

Rescue operation at the Pioneer gold mine. Photo: AFP

The collapsed Pioneer gold mine in the Amur region is one of the largest in the world and one of the most productive in Russia. Photo: AFP

The collapsed Pioneer gold mine in the Amur region. Photo: AFP

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Photo: Sputnik via AP

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Alexei Navalny’s grave in Moscow, Russia. Photo: Reuters

Indonesia’s nickel supply glut, slowing EV demand could ‘jeopardise’ Chinese miners

A truck loads raw nickel ore at a mining site in South Sulawesi province. Photo: Reuters

A worker at an Indonesian nickel processing plant in South Sulawesi. Photo: AP 

A charging dock at a public EV charging station in Bali, Indonesia. Photo: EPA-EFE 

As Indonesia stands by bauxite ore ban, can it replicate nickel success?

Indonesia is doubling down on its decision to ban exports of bauxite ore but it might struggle to replicate the success it has had with nickel ore. Photo: Reuters

Aside from bauxite ore, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo wants to also curb exports of copper, tin and gold. Photo: Xinhua

In 2022, Indonesia produced 21 million tonnes of bauxite, according to data from the US Geological Survey, making it the world’s fifth-largest producer. Almost 85 per cent was exported overseas. Photo: Shutterstock

Nickel-mining workers ride past a sign board for Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry in southeast Sulawesi. Most new Chinese investment projects in Indonesia late last year were in the nickel-smelting and downstream-processing industries. Photo: AFP

News

World

Russia & Central Asia

The Pioneer mine in the Far Eastern Amur region is one of the largest in the world and one of the most productive in Russia
Rescuers had begun drilling a hole to try to reach the miners. There is still ‘no communication with the miners’, but officials believe they are alive


The Pioneer mine in the Far Eastern Amur region is one of the largest in the world and one of the most productive in Russia.


Vladimir Putin

Natural disasters