PERTH (miningweekly.com) - A second worker at lithium miner Galaxy Resources’ Jiangsu plant, in China, has succumbed to his injuries following the November 22 incident when a fibreglass pipe burst.
One worker was killed during the incident, with several others injured. Galaxy reported on Wednesday that a second employee had now passed away as a result of infection from injuries sustained in the incident.
Meanwhile, Galaxy said its investigation into the incident had concluded, and found that, on shutdown of the plant, an abnormal and unexpected blockage in the vertical crystalliser section held up a mass of sodium sulphate liquid, the force of which caused the fibreglass pipework to rupture on impact.
Galaxy noted that, owing to the highly abnormal nature of the incident, the risk of this type of incident had not been identified by the plant designers in their design documentation or safety studies.
China’s Suzhou Safety Bureau had also conducted an independent investigation, and concurred with the root cause analysis of the incident. The bureau had agreed with Galaxy’s proposal to replace the ruptured U-bend section with stainless steel, with additional load support.
Galaxy said the stainless steel replacements had been ordered and the repair of the U-bend would be completed by early February, ready for the plant restart, subject to a final sign-off by authorities.