Recently, during a visit and internship at the Inner Mongolia Copper-Molybdenum Ore Dressing Plant of the China Gold Group, students and teachers from Northeastern University experienced a tragic incident. A sudden detachment of a grid plate led to the drowning and death of six students in the flotation trough, with one teacher also sustaining injuries.
The company involved had held a safety production meeting before the incident, emphasizing that “safety production is a top priority.” Their official public account had previously published articles claiming that the workshop in question had achieved a “zero-accident” goal, but these posts were deleted after the incident.
The victims were all third-year students majoring in Mineral Processing Engineering at the School of Resources and Civil Engineering at Northeastern University, aged between 20 and 22. The accident occurred during an internship organized by the school, with about fifty to sixty students from the third year who were required to participate, linking this practical experience to their graduation requirements.
According to reports in mainland Chinese media, on the day of the accident, July 23, as Northeastern University students and teachers were visiting the flotation workshop at the Wunugutu Mountain Copper-Molybdenum Ore Dressing Plant of the Inner Mongolia Mining Limited Company under the China Gold Group. Suddenly, a grid plate fell off, causing multiple individuals to fall into the operating flotation trough.
Upon hearing students calling for help, on-site personnel promptly pressed the emergency stop switch of the flotation machine and used the intercom system to notify the control room to halt operations, while also organizing the evacuation of students and teachers to safe areas.
Despite the immediate actions taken by on-site personnel to stop the machine and begin rescue procedures, due to the unique properties of the slurry in the flotation trough, the six students showed no signs of life by the time they were rescued and were confirmed dead by medical staff. One accompanying teacher was rescued in time during the fall and is currently receiving treatment in the hospital.
The flotation trough for copper-molybdenum ore is a critical equipment for flotation separation, separating useful minerals from waste rock using the froth flotation method. Industry experts note that the depth of the flotation trough can reach up to 6 meters or more, containing a high-concentration slurry mixture of ground ore, water, and flotation agents, denser than water, causing individuals to sink and making it difficult to resurface. The slurry in the flotation trough contains suspended solids, chemical agents, and heavy metal ions, exhibiting corrosive properties.
The detachment of the grid plate was cited as the direct cause of the accident. Just twelve days before the incident, Inner Mongolia Mining had conducted a safety production meeting, emphasizing that “safety production is of utmost importance in all work.” In February, the official WeChat public account of China Gold Inner Mongolia Mining had also claimed that the flotation workshop of the ore dressing department strictly adhered to safety operating procedures and had achieved a “zero-accident” safety goal by 2024.
The propaganda article boasting about “zero accidents” was deleted after the accident occurred.
Northeastern University has had a longstanding cooperative relationship with the China Gold Group Inner Mongolia Mining Limited Company. In May 2021, the Inner Mongolia Mining Company was recognized by Northeastern University as the “Outstanding Practical Education Base for 2020,” hosting nearly 50 mining engineering students for learning experiences around July each year.
According to information on the college’s official website, their joint application with the China Gold Group Inner Mongolia Mining Limited Company for the provincial-level Engineering Practice Education Center for university students’ off-campus practical education was approved in 2020.
Following the incident, the stock price of China Gold was impacted, with an early morning announcement on July 24 leading to a more than 8% drop in the company’s stock price, resulting in a market value evaporation of approximately 3.4 billion RMB, reflecting concerns in the market about the company’s safety management capabilities.
In response to this major accident, political commentator Cai Shenkun commented on the X platform of social media on the 24th, saying, “The deaths of the six students from Northeastern University are too tragic! Visiting a prestigious central enterprise, they lost their lives! In this country that claims to be the safest in the world, there are traps everywhere, making it impossible to guard against.”