[Summary translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Centre]

Several cases opened against enterprise in Khabarovsk Krai after tailings pipeline rupture, 17 September 2025

Law enforcement authorities have opened several administrative cases against a gold-mining enterprise in Khabarovsk Krai following a rupture of a slurry pipeline and the pollution of the Ul River, the Amur Basin Environmental Prosecutor’s Office reported.

The technological failure involving the rupture of the slurry pipeline occurred in July this year at the Mnogovershinnoye gold-mining enterprise in the Nikolayevsky district, when cyanide-containing slurry entered the Ul River.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the company faces several administrative proceedings under Russia’s Code of Administrative Offenses, including violations of subsoil use license conditions, repeated non-compliance with environmental protection requirements in waste management, violations of water use regulations, and pollution of forests with wastewater and chemicals.

Investigators found that violations of environmental legislation occurred during the operation of the pipeline transporting cyanide-containing waste to a tailings storage facility, which resulted in a slurry spill that contaminated soil and water bodies and caused environmental damage.