Two people were killed and five others were injured following an explosion at Glencore’s (LSE: GLEN) large zinc-gold production facility in eastern Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
Preliminary findings suggest that the blast occurred while work was being carried out to clean the smoke extractor, which was followed by a fire and the partial collapse of the structure, Glencore’s Kazzinc unit said in a statement.
Kazakhstan’s Emergency Situations Ministry confirmed these findings, stating that a dust-collection unit at the Kazzinc facility in Ust-Kamenogorsk had exploded, triggering a blaze and causing one building to partially collapse.
Fire put out
The fire has since been extinguished and rescue teams are searching for any further victims, the Ministry added. However, no update was given on the site’s operational status.
Kazzinc, owned 70% by Glencore, is Kazakhstan’s largest producer of zinc, as well as lead, copper, gold and silver. The remaining 30% is owned by the Kazakh sovereign state fund Samruk-Kazyna.
The incident comes amid ongoing talks over Glencore’s potential sale of its stake in the metals complex. Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that the commodities trading giant is closing in on a deal with local businessman Shakhmurat Mutalip for as much as $4.5 billion.
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