The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 3 letter word BUDDIES DIE
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
B
U
D
D
I
E
S
D
I
E
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Mates" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case mates = buddies die.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.