There is no consolation for the tragedy experienced Thursday in the town of Súria, with around 6,000 inhabitants, the Bages county and, by extension, the entire country of Catalonia. The deaths of three young geologists at a depth of 900 metres due to a gallery collapse in the potash and salt mines has shocked a mining region that, for more than a century, has grown accustomed to enduring, much more often than it would like, bad news. In Súria, almost everyone has a family member, a relative, a friend or an acquaintance who works or has worked at some point in the mine. Four fatal cave-ins in Balsareny and one in Súria in the last ten years are more than a signal of alarm, even though these things only enter the news coverage with any prominence on the day that tragedy happens and, then, all the spotlights are on the disaster, until they switch to another focus a few hours later, on a slow but unstoppable path to normalcy until further notice.
Meanwhile, there is no news of the tragedy on the company's website. We do know, however, that in a work environment that is not always easy when it comes to finding work, the only company devoted to the extraction, processing and marketing of potassium salts in Spain, the Israeli corporation ICL Iberia, has a staff of 1,100 workers, and without interruption the extraction of potassium salts, a natural fertilizer for agriculture around the world, has continued. Also extracted here is sodium chloride, an essential element in many industries. And as well, the mines represent one of the most important reserves in Western Europe, which makes ICL Súria one of the world's largest producers of potash. But no sign of consolation has been posted next to the different business awards obtained in recent years.
The causes of the tragedy will have to be pinpointed and, if necessary, clear responsibility will have to be attributed, because simply expressing regret is not enough. The families of the three young men who died - two of them were masters' students at the UPC in Manresa who were employed as interns, and the third man was a geologist hired by the company that owns the mine - deserve a lot more than an explanation, since it is already known that these things do happen. Protocols will also have to be reviewed, because according to the official explanations provided, an inspection by the General Directorate of Mines had taken place approximately three weeks ago. We need to believe that these reviews have some sense to them and that must be none other than detecting situations like those that gave rise to the tragedy on Thursday in the Bages county.
The fact that the company has a concession for the extraction of potassium salts from the mines of Súria until the year 2067 and that, according to calculations that have been made, there is no expectation that the mineral deposits will be exhausted at that point, certainly forces us to analyze what the safety norms should be for the next 44 years. Certainly, much progress has been made since past decades, but it is clear that it is not enough. The tragedy of the loss of three human lives while working in the mine should not be taken for granted by citing such fallacious arguments as 'that's how mining is'. This is not what society should expect in 2023, because many years have gone by since the distant 1925, when potash began to be sold commercially, and back then, this response was already given every time this Thursday's news was heard.