Uralkali mine collapse in Russia kills worker

18 February 2010 10:25  [Source: ICIS news]

MOSCOW (ICIS news)--A mine owned by Russian potash producer Uralkali collapsed on Thursday morning, killing one worker, authorities in the country's Perm region said in a statement.

All other workers at the mine were said to have been evacuated, according to the region's emergency situations department.

Uralkali, based in Berezniki, in the Perm region of the Urals, declined to comment on how its potash output would be affected by the incident.

It is the second major incident that Uralkali has experienced at one of its four mines.

In October 2006, underground water flooded one of Uralkali's mines and created a sinkhole that disrupted a local railway line and the surrounding area.

Subsequently, Russia's state-run Russian Railways built a new bypass rail line, and potash shipments from Berezniki were not interrupted.

Uralkali announced in January that its potash production in 2009 had fallen 45% year on year to 2.62m tonnes due to a significant fall in global demand.

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By: Sergei Blagov
+44 20 8652 3214

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