A red star, a distant symbol of Kazakhstan's Soviet past, still stands at the top of the headframe overseeing the descent and ascent of workers at the Kostenko coalmine run by ArcelorMittal. On Saturday, October 28, however, 46 miners did not come back out of the mine alive, victims of a methane explosion and the ensuing fire. This death toll makes it the deadliest accident in Kazakhstan's history. The country is home to significant natural resources (oil, gas, uranium, coal, iron, gold) that are highly sought after by multinational corporations, including ArcelorMittal for iron and coal, TotalEnergies for hydrocarbons and Orano for uranium.
The tragedy led the president of Kazakhstan to declare a national day of mourning on Sunday, October 29, and, more importantly, to announce the departure of the group led by Indian businessman Lakshmi Mittal. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev placed the entire responsibility for the accident on "the worst enterprise in Kazakhstan's history in terms of cooperation with the government." The Kazakh government has signed a preliminary agreement to nationalize ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the local subsidiary of the global steel giant. The steel and mining group, which had been present in the country since 1995, stated on Monday that it was committed to completing the operation as quickly as possible to minimize production disruptions related to its departure. At the same time, the company's stock price fell by more than 4% on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
The Kazakh public does not tolerate these mining accidents in a country where oil, gas and minerals remain the backbone of the economy. Five deaths occurred at the Shakhtinskaya mine in August 2022, and five more at the Lenin mine three months later. This is the very location where the worst mining disaster in the country occurred in 2006, resulting in 41 deaths, until the recent accident on October 29. A total of approximately 200 people are believed to have lost their lives at Kazakh mining sites since the country gained independence.
The government has accused the Luxembourg-based steel company of not implementing complete safety regulations and of operating outdated facilities. But the group claims to have improved the situation in recent years, within the general regulatory framework set by the 1995 Safety and Health in Mines Convention by the International Labor Organization. This convention stipulates that "employers shall take all necessary measures to eliminate or minimize the risks to safety and health in mines under their control." This includes air quality and adequate ventilation, structural maintenance, ground stabilization, prevention of explosions and fires, periodic inspections and more.
You have 20% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.