Cormidom, the Chinese company that operates the Cerro de Maimon copper and zinc mine in Monseñor Nouel province, announced that the mine will continue temporarily closed. The company issued a statement indicating that the mine will not reopen until its operations are validated and the safety of the workers is guaranteed. “We are in the review phase and until we are completely sure, we will not reopen,” stated the company. After the cave-in on Sunday, 31 July 2022, the production operations at the mine have been fully suspended and the tunnels are under maintenance.
The Cormidom mine is the first underground mining operation in the Dominican Republic. In 2021, there were two tragic incidents, with two deaths, both attributed to human errors of the workers. Reports at the Mining Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mining indicates that machine operator Hector Bautista died on 18 October 2021 when he erred in the operation of the apparatus in one of the mine’s tunnels and was crushed under the machine. Another worker who was applying cement in a tunnel erroneously entered an un protected area and was surprised by a rockslide that killed him.
In the recent 2022 incident, the two workers that remained in a tunnel after a rock slide closed their exit path, were rescued safe and sound thanks to company actions that mobilized local and international help to find the best solutions for the rescue.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
Montreal CTV News
Dominican Embassy in Canada
El Caribe
11 August 2022