Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner St Barbara has been forced to withdraw all personnel from its Gold Ridge operations, in the Solomon Islands, on safety fears.
The miner said that there had been a ‘serious escalation’ in security concerns at the mine over the last three days.
Operations at Gold Ridge were halted in April this year, and personnel were evacuated following torrential rains that caused significant damage to infrastructure.
The gold miner subsequently dealt with immigration issues, after the Solomon government advised the miner that expatriate officers and managers would not be allowed to return to the Solomon Islands, without giving a reason for the order.
In June, the miner reached an agreement with the local government that saw the immigration ban being lifted, only to be confronted with illegal miners at the site. St Barbra has, to date, been unable to resume production at Gold Ridge owing to a number of factors, including the loss of stable bridge access across the Tinahulu river, and the continued presence of a large number of illegal miners camped in the openpit area.
St Barbara said on Thursday that the company was currently liaising with local authorities, adding that once the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force was able to confirm that security had been re-established at the site, the possibility of a return to site would be assessed.