AngloGold says no production impact from Guinea power protests

28th June 2018 By: Reuters

DAKAR – AngloGold Ashanti said on Thursday that there has been no production impact at its Siguiri gold mine in Guinea despite two days of violent protests over prolonged electricity outages by communities around the mine.

Youths barricaded roads, clashed with security forces and tried to force through the gates of the mine on Wednesday as around one thousand demonstrators surrounded the mine, a government official said.

A spokesman for the company said the situation on and around the site was currently calm.

"Members of a local community near our Siguiri mine have been protesting the temporary rationing of power, which is an unfortunate necessity while one of four generator units that provide power to the site and some villages in the region, is repaired," AngloGold Ashanti spokesperson Chris Nthite said.

He said production has not been impacted and teams from the capital were working to repair the affected unit in the coming weeks, and uninterrupted power will be restored to the communities.

The Siguiri mine produced 324 000 oz of gold in 2017.