I've met some folks involved in quarrying and have heard stories about seeing fossils and blowing them up to avoid stopping work. It's terribly sad and should have large consequences.
I'm really glad this mine did it the right way and stopped!
Consequences, yes. But surely it would help to have appropriate positive incentives toward doing the right thing, for example mandated insurance for an archeological event, that pays out in the event that one occurs.
The cost involved here is enormous with this, so such an operations often decide to ignore the bones instead.