Nine gold miners missing in Turkey after landslide
Reuters | February 13, 2024 |
The Copler gold mine in east-central Turkey. Credit: Alacer Gold
Nine miners were still missing eight hours after a landslide at an Anagold Mining operation in eastern Turkey on Tuesday, the energy ministry said, with rescue efforts underway.
The mine in Erzincan province is operated by Lidya Madencilik and owned by Turkey-based Calik Holding and Denver, Colorado-based SSR Mining, which is listed in Toronto and the Australian stock exchange.
SSR did not immediately respond to a request for comment at its Turkey office.
Security footage showed a giant mound of soil, which authorities said had been processed for gold and piled on the hills, rapidly crumble and flow into the valley in a deluge of earth and rocks, sending clouds of dust into the air.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 400 search and rescue workers were looking for the missing miners.
“In order to closely coordinate the rescue work, I will interrupt my international program with our president and move to the region as of tonight,” Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in a posting on X, formerly Twitter.
The government said it has launched an investigation into the incident.
(By Burcu Karakas and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, David Goodman and Bill Berkrot)
Reuters | February 13, 2024 |
The Copler gold mine in east-central Turkey. Credit: Alacer Gold
Nine miners were still missing eight hours after a landslide at an Anagold Mining operation in eastern Turkey on Tuesday, the energy ministry said, with rescue efforts underway.
The mine in Erzincan province is operated by Lidya Madencilik and owned by Turkey-based Calik Holding and Denver, Colorado-based SSR Mining, which is listed in Toronto and the Australian stock exchange.
SSR did not immediately respond to a request for comment at its Turkey office.
Security footage showed a giant mound of soil, which authorities said had been processed for gold and piled on the hills, rapidly crumble and flow into the valley in a deluge of earth and rocks, sending clouds of dust into the air.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 400 search and rescue workers were looking for the missing miners.
“In order to closely coordinate the rescue work, I will interrupt my international program with our president and move to the region as of tonight,” Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in a posting on X, formerly Twitter.
The government said it has launched an investigation into the incident.
(By Burcu Karakas and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, David Goodman and Bill Berkrot)
Staff Writer | February 13, 2024 |
The sulphide plant at the Copler gold mine in Turkey. Credit: SSR Mining
SSR Mining‘s (TSX: SSRM; NASDAQ: SSRM; ASX: SSR) share price was cut in half on Tuesday after a disaster at its Çöpler gold mine in Turkey forced it to suspend operations.
As reported by Reuters, nine workers are missing, according to Turkey’s energy ministry. Rescue efforts are under way.
A video on X showed the massive resulting landslide.
A large slip on the heap leach pad at Çöpler occurred around 6:30 a.m. EST, the company said in a news release.
Located 1,100 km southeast from Istanbul, Çöpler represents one of SSR’s cornerstone assets, boasting 3.2 million oz. of gold in proven and probable reserves with an estimated mine life of 20 years.
The mine has been operating since 2010 and is currently processing ore through two producing plants – the oxide and sulphide plants. The oxide ore is processed via heap leach while the sulphide ore is processed using pressure oxidation.
The leap leach incident is not the first time that Çöpler was forced to stop operating. In June 2022, the Turkish environment ministry ordered the mine’s suspension due to a spill of cyanide waste.
Shares of SSR Mining fell by over 55% at $4.36 by 11:40 a.m. in New York, having hit a new 52-week low of $4.27 earlier in the session. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock traded as high as $17.72 apiece. The company’s market capitalization is $909.2 million.
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