Frequent safety accidents at mining companies continue to sound alarm bells for the industry's workplace safety standards.
Hunan Gold Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to as "Hunan Gold", 002155.SZ), a subsidiary of state-owned enterprise Hunan Gold Group, announced on September 24 that its subsidiary Xinlong Mining received a letter from Xinshao County Emergency Management Bureau titled "Letter of Consent for Hunan Xinlong Mining Co., Ltd. to Resume Production," approving Xinlong Mining's headquarters to gradually resume production starting September 25, 2025.
One month earlier, on August 24, an employee at Xinlong Mining was killed when loose rocks suddenly collapsed while handling anchor mesh and loose stones at the 7# vein 310-813 stope. Xinlong Mining's headquarters ceased operations on August 24, 2025.
Regarding the impact of this accident, Hunan Gold stated that according to preliminary calculations by the company's asset and finance department, the production stoppage at Xinlong Mining's headquarters is expected to reduce the company's current net profit by approximately 52 million yuan.
Hunan Gold noted that following the production halt, Xinlong Mining actively conducted comprehensive safety education and training for all employees, safety hazard inspections and corrections, and equipment maintenance. Moving forward, Xinlong Mining will optimize production plans and other measures to organize all aspects of production and operations, minimizing the impact of this production stoppage on business operations.
Hunan Gold stated it will deeply learn from this incident, further intensify safety production inspections and supervision of all subsidiaries, strengthen employee safety education and training, and effectively implement safety production responsibilities.
Notably, records show that within less than 3 years, Hunan Gold has disclosed at least 5 safety accidents at Xinlong Mining.
On December 20, 2022, an employee from Zhejiang Baoshu, an underground mining engineering contractor for Xinlong Mining, died in an accident while dismantling wind and water pipes in a shaft. On July 19, 2023, an employee from Zhejiang Baoshu's Xinlong Mining project department died when the working face collapsed during slag removal operations underground at the headquarters.
On March 27, 2024, an employee from Jinzhiyuan project department, a mining engineering contractor for Xinlong Mining, was killed by falling objects when stacked anchor mesh rolled down while moving anchor mesh at the warehouse entrance of the 630 industrial plaza at Xinlong Mining's surface facilities. Four months later, on July 17, 2024, an employee from Jinzhiyuan project department died when the roof collapsed during pneumatic drilling operations at the 800 shaft entrance 6# vein stope at Xinlong Mining.
Hunan Gold Corporation Limited, formerly Hunan Xiangxi Gold Mine, is primarily engaged in the mining and mineral processing of gold, antimony, tungsten and other non-ferrous metals, smelting and processing of gold, antimony, tungsten and other non-ferrous metals, deep processing of gold and refined antimony, and import-export business of non-ferrous metal mineral products. The company is one of China's top ten gold producers, a global leader in antimony mining development, and an important tungsten mining enterprise in China.
According to Hunan Gold's 2025 interim report, the company achieved revenue of 28.436 billion yuan in the first half of this year, an increase of 87.89% compared to the same period last year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 656 million yuan, an increase of 49.66% year-over-year.
Xinlong Mining is one of Hunan Gold's three second-tier subsidiaries, established on February 18, 2004, with registered capital of 300 million yuan. It was formed through the comprehensive restructuring of the former Hunan Longshan Gold-Antimony Mine and has over 100 years of mining history. Its main products are gold and antimony. The company is located in Taizhimiao Township, Xinshao County, Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, and is one of Shaoyang City's backbone enterprises and a leading enterprise in Xinshao County's economy.
For mining companies, safety and environmental protection represent two critical bottom lines. Xinlong Mining's management has emphasized in relevant work meetings that safety must be the baseline, effectively implementing and reinforcing the safety production responsibility system, resolutely preventing and curbing production safety accidents, and ensuring "zero work fatalities," "zero environmental incidents," and "zero new occupational diseases."
It is worth noting that the "zero work fatalities" requirements mentioned in such meetings have not curbed the high frequency of safety accidents in gold mining enterprises, with some companies even concealing incidents. A review reveals that from 2024 to 2025 alone, publicly reported safety accidents have involved multiple major publicly-listed gold mining companies.
China National Gold Group Corporation's listed subsidiary Zhongjin Gold (600489.SH) announced on the morning of July 24 that on July 23, six students from Northeastern University drowned after falling into flotation tanks when grating plates collapsed during a study visit to observe flotation processes at the company's controlling subsidiary, China National Gold Group Inner Mongolia Mining Co., Ltd.'s Wunugetushan copper-molybdenum mine concentrator. Despite rescue efforts, medical personnel confirmed all six students had drowned after being pulled from the tanks. One teacher was also injured.
In comparison, Shandong Gold Group's listed subsidiary Shandong Gold Mining Co., Ltd. (600547.SH/1787.HK) had a record of concealing safety accidents last year. The Shandong Provincial Emergency Management Department website publicly reported on September 21, 2024, that Shandong Gold's wholly-owned subsidiary Shandong Gold Mining (Laizhou) Co., Ltd. concealed three accidents that occurred in January, May, and July 2024. Two of these three accidents each resulted in one fatality.
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