Mexico’s proposed higher mining royalties could block nearly $7bn in investments
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Relatives of the victims of a coal mining accident that took place a year ago in Coahuila, northern Mexico, are falling into despair as the bodies of the 10 miners continue to be buried under water and rubble.
The accident happened on August 3, 2022, at the El Pinabete mine when excavation work caused water to brake through a shaft wall and flooded the tunnels the men were working in. The water originated from giant pools in abandoned mines nearby.
Right after the disaster, personnel from the Federal Electricity Commission started working on a daily basis to rescue the victims. They were able to extract five people but the amount of water in the area has made it almost impossible to access the pit and recover the remaining 10.
The water depth in the mine’s multiple flooded shafts has measured up to 31 meters.
According to Reuters, El Pinabete, one of the many Coahuila small-scale mines tapped to provide coal to Mexico’s state power utility, had not been visited by labour inspectors and Mexican law does not require such mines to be inspected before opening.
Following the accident at El Pinabete, Interpol issued a red notice against Luis Rafael García, the majority shareholder of the company in charge of the mine, who ended up being apprehended on May 25, 2023.
In September 2022, the site’s foreman, Cristian Solís, was also arrested, while mine co-owner, Arnulfo Garza Cárdenas, remains a fugitive.
All of them are accused, among other things, of promoting an illegal mining operation in a risky location.
Accidents of this kind are not uncommon in Mexico’s coal heartland. Back in 2006, an explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine killed 65 men and only two bodies were recovered.
More recently, on July 24, 2023, two miners died as they were descending into the pit of a mine near the community of Mezquite. The steel cable holding the elevator snapped and the workers fell 70 meters underground.
