Overview
- Three geologists were killed when a nearly two-ton slab fell about 900 metres underground at the Cabanasses mine on March 9, 2023.
- The investigating judge issued a provisional dismissal in a December 3, 2025 ruling and the Public Prosecutor has formally adhered to that archive, a development reported this week.
- The court relied heavily on expert reports, including one by technician Tomàs Carbó Quintana, which found no clear breaches of safety rules or criminal negligence in the evidence gathered.
- Experts rejected links between the fatal collapse and practices such as overexcavation, pillar sizing or the incentivized 'bocado' extraction, and they described the fall as unpredictable even to experienced professionals.
- One hour before the deaths a 20-kilogram rock fell and a worker left a warning note that was not passed to the geologists, the judge found no causal connection, Iberpotash paid indemnities to the families, and the provisional archive leaves open the possibility of reopening the case if new, relevant evidence emerges.