All declared dead in Mexican mine blast
The 65 men trapped by a Mexican coal mine explosion six days ago cannot have survived their ordeal underground and are all dead, mine owners say.
The Grupo Mexico company said that while no bodies have yet been found, tests showed there was almost no oxygen inside the mine’s shafts and tunnels and no hope of finding survivors from the explosion last Sunday.
“We are going to move on to the hard task of the physical recovery of our miners … so the families can start their mourning,” said Xavier Garcia, a senior executive at Grupo Mexico.
Relatives who have held a vigil at the mine gates since last Sunday wept and hugged each other after being told there was no chance their men would be rescued alive. Red Cross officials treated 10 people suffering from emotional distress.
More: theage.com.au
Mexico Says 65 Miners Were Killed in Blast, Universal Reports
The 65 miners trapped inside a northern Mexico mine on Feb. 19 died instantly when an explosion elevated temperatures to more than 600 degrees Celsius (1,112 Fahrenheit), El Universal reported, citing Labor Minister Francisco Javier Salazar.
Salazar said yesterday in San Juan de Sabinas, Mexico, that the government will investigate the cause of the accident and the mine will stay closed for now, Universal reported. The mine is owned by Grupo Mexico SA.
The government had suspended rescue attempts on Feb. 24 because of dangerously high levels of lethal gas
Grupo Mexico Shuts San Martin Mine as Strike Lingers
Grupo Mexico closed its San Martin zinc mine because of a strike that has halted production since March, signaling labor disputes that have crimped world metal supplies wont end soon.
Its impossible to even hope that this is going to be resolved, spokesman Juan Rebolledo said in a television interview on TV Azteca. Thats why we closed it.
Lost production from San Martin and Grupo Mexicos La Caridad mine helped push copper to record prices on the London Metal Exchange this year, as some analysts forecast 2006 production will lag behind
Mexico mine rescue faces new obstacles on 5th day
A struggling operation to save 65 Mexican miners trapped in a coal mine faced new obstacles on Thursday as underground air quality and digging conditions worsened.
Rescuers came across piles of rubble from collapsed roofs where two of the men were working when a huge gas explosion ripped through the Pasta de Conchos mine on Sunday.
Since the collapse there has been no contact with the miners, who only had six hours' worth of oxygen with them and no food.
Relatives were hanging on the hope that they may be still be alive thanks to
Mexico OKs Request to Close Copper Mine
Mexican labor authorities approved Grupo Mexico SAs request to close the La Caridad copper mine and cancel the collective contract after a three-month strike, a company official said Friday.
Juan Rebolledo, vice president for international affairs for Grupo Mexico, said the labor arbitration board approved the closure of the mine in northwestern Sonora state, and that the company can now cancel the contract which involves at least 1,200 unionized workers.
About 700 nonunion staff and 800 contract workers also will be affected, although the company can later reopen the mine with other workers once the
Royal Gold buys royalties in Nevada, Mexico
Mineral royalty company Royal Gold Inc. said Thursday it will buy two royalties on mining operations in Nevada and Mexico from Kennecott Minerals Co. for $25 million.
Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD) is based in Denver. Kennecott is based in Salt Lake City.
Royal Gold doesn't operate mines itself, but provides money for projects in return for royalties -- or percentage-based payments -- on the value of the minerals produces.
Royal Gold said it bought a 3 percent net smelter return on the Robinson gold, copper and molybdenum mine in eastern Nevada. The mine is operated
Mexico's Penoles Workers Postpone Strike Date to Vote Offer
Miners at Industrias Penoles SA, Mexico's largest silver miner, deferred a strike date scheduled for yesterday at a silver-and-lead mine to vote on a salary offer, the union said in a statement.
The strike at the mine in Naica, Chihuahua, was delayed until Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. New York time while the vote is organized, local union leader Sergio Chavira said in the statement. The terms of the Penoles offered weren't disclosed.
More than 350 union miners work at Naica, the largest lead mine in Mexico. The mine in 2005 produced
First Silver raises mining capacity in Mexico, expects to produce 2M ounces this year
First Silver Reserve Inc. has expanded capacity at its Mexican mine and expects to produce about two million ounces of silver this year from the operation.
The Vancouver-based miner (TSX:FSR) said Wednesday it had recently bought underground mining equipment to boost output at its wholly owned San Martin silver mine in Jalisco State, Mexico.
"With the new addition of these scooptrams, underground haul trucks and motors, equipment availability should be increased significantly in the last quarter of the year and the company is expected to achieve its
Miners file murder charges against Grupo Mexico
A Mexican union has filed murder charges against mining company Grupo Mexico and the government after 65 miners were killed last month in an explosion at a coal mine.
Mexico's miners' and metalworkers' union said late on Thursday it formally accused Grupo Mexico, Labor Minister Francisco Salazar and two mine inspectors of homicide.
The workers died after a methane explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine in the northern state of Coahuila on Feb. 19.
Union leaders say Grupo Mexico , the world's No. 3 copper miner, ignored safety concerns but the company has denied negligence.
Co-workers gave
Huge firework blast rattles Mexican
A chain of explosions ripped through a sprawling market selling fireworks for Mexico's independence celebrations on Thursday, sending a huge column of smoke sky-high but causing only a handful of serious injuries.
Hundreds of blasts lasting for two hours reduced the market in the town of Tultepec, north-west of Mexico City, to a charred ruin. A large-scale tragedy was avoided only because stall owners ran for their lives as the explosions began.
Huddled with her children on the edge of a smoldering mass of twisted metal and smoldering wood the size of a football pitch and reeking
Whales wash up dead near Mexicos Baja coast
Eleven beaked whales were washed up on beaches near Mexicos sparsely populated Baja California peninsula and all of them died, the countrys environmental protection agency said on Friday.
The whales were found earlier this week mostly on islands in the Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California, and had been dead for several days, an official at the Profepa agency said.
He said the cause of the whales deaths was being investigated. A group of squid, which the whales feed on, was also found dead nearby.
Beaked whales
