At least nine miners died in an explosion on Wednesday, December 23, at the Yestyuninskaya iron ore mine near the Russian city of Nizhny Tagil in the Ural Mountains. At the moment of the blast 123 people were in the mine, of which 114 have been safely evacuated.
The investigators said the explosion at the Yestyuninskaya mine, which is owned by Russian steelmaker and iron ore producer Evraz Group (Evraz), occurred just after 1:30 p.m. local time, at 180 meters below the surface, and, according to their preliminary information, the cause of the blast was a breach of rules during the transportation of explosives, i.e., about 3.96 mt of ammonite.
All operations at the mine have been halted. The investigation into the incident continues and is unlikely to be completed within the next 15 days. Currently, reconstruction work has begun at the mine and the damage caused by the explosion is expected to be repaired within three days.
This is the second incident at the mine this year. Some 15 miners were hospitalized as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning in late January.
The Yestyuninskaya mine, one of four mines belonging to Evraz's subsidiary Vysokogorsky GOK (VGOK) which are located in the city of Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk region, produces about 30 percent of VGOK's total output. Contractual iron ore deliveries will be made from VGOK's warehouse stocks which amount to 80,000 mt of iron ore, i.e., almost the monthly production volume of the Yestyuninskaya mine.