Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Rescue teams are searching for 16 workers missing in a mine owned by Russian diamond miner Alrosa after the pit flooded on Friday, the company said.
A total of 102 miners have been brought to the surface and another 33 miners have been located in the mine in Yakutia in eastern Siberia and are being evacuated, it said. There were 151 workers underground when the accident happened.
No casualties have been reported so far, and there was no word from the Alrosa on the chances that the 16 missing miners could be rescued. The water flooded into the mine shaft from an open-cast mine above it earlier on Friday.
State-controlled Alrosa is the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds in carat terms. Together with Anglo American’s De Beers unit, it produces about half of the world’s rough diamonds.
Shares in Alrosa were down 1 percent in Moscow on Friday, underperforming a 0.5-percent decline in the broader MICEX index .
The underground mine accounts for 9 percent of Alrosa’s rough diamond production of gem quality, analysts at BCS investment bank said in a note. (Reporting by Diana Asonova; Writing by Polina Devitt; editing by Alister Doyle)
