INCIDENTS

Kumtor Mine - Cyanide Spill from Haulage Truck, Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan), May 1998

On 20 May 1998 at 12:10 p.m., a transport convoy of five haulage trucks accompanied by two security vehicles owned by Cameco was en route from the Balykchy Marshalling Yard to Kumtor mine site in Kyrgyzstan.  Each truck carried a 6-metre sea-container containing 20 tonnes of sodium cyanide briquettes. On the Barskaun Pass road at about 8 km above the village of Barskaun (population 7,000) the fourth truck in the convoy rolled over on the road adjacent to a bridge over the Barskaun River. The container loaded with sodium cyanide fell into the river, and the truck landed upright on top of the container. The container was damaged, but despite falling six metres, only seven of the cyanide bulk packages inside were punctured, mainly by crushing as the container distorted. An estimated 1762 kg of sodium cyanide (935 kg CN^-) was lost into the river. The truck driver suffered a broken arm and leg. The truck was beyond repair.

The final report (Natural Resources Canada site) of the International Scientific Commission that investigated the incident is available in English and Russian.  It contains excellent technical information on cyanide and the environment.

LINKS:

• IRCYL - Investigation of the Risk of Cyanide in Gold Leaching on Health and Environment in Central Asia and Central Europe. Project commencing in March, 2000 to investigate effects of the cyanide spill at Barskoon, Krygyzstan in May, 1998.  The project is to be expanded to incorporate the Baia Mare spill in Romania.

• Kyrgyzstan Community Business Forum site 

  • Download "Developing and piloting new stakeholder models: The Community & Business Forum in Kyrgyzstan (August 2000)" (PDF format, 247 MB)

• Technical Issues - Cyanide Management

Disclaimer: UNEP DTIE makes every effort to ensure, but does not guarantee, the accuracy of the information on this web site. Hyperlinks to other web sites imply neither responsibility for, nor approval of, the information contained in those other web sites on the part of UNEP.