Nigeria’s Deadliest Gold Mine Collapse in Zamfara
On September 25, 2025, tragedy struck the Kadauri artisanal mining site in Zamfara State, Nigeria, when a gold pit collapsed and trapped more than 100 miners underground. Rescue efforts recovered only a handful of survivors, with dozens of bodies pulled from the rubble in the following days. Families and community members joined professional rescuers in digging through unstable ground, but hopes for additional survivors faded quickly. The scale of the disaster makes it one of the deadliest mining incidents in Nigeria’s recent history.
Governance and Safety Failures
The collapse exposed the systemic risks of Nigeria’s artisanal mining sector, where thousands of workers operate outside formal oversight. In Zamfara, unstable soils, unreinforced shafts, and a lack of safety equipment are compounded by the presence of armed groups who control access to goldfields and enforce unsafe extraction practices. Regulators face limited reach, while poverty drives workers to accept dangerous conditions. The incident highlighted not only technical deficiencies but also a deeper governance crisis, where informal mining thrives in regulatory vacuums.
Implications for Legitimacy and Reform
The scale of the Kadauri tragedy represents a severe blow to the legitimacy of Nigeria’s gold sector. It underscores how weak oversight and criminal infiltration have transformed artisanal mining into a humanitarian and security challenge. For the government, the collapse adds urgency to formalization efforts, safety regulation, and community protection. For international buyers, it raises renewed concerns over supply chain traceability and responsible sourcing. Unless systemic reforms are pursued, Nigeria’s mining industry risks further eroding both its social license to operate and its credibility in global markets..