The Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) of Papua New Guinea has instructed a temporary halt to underground operations at the Kainantu gold mine operated by K92 Mining.
This directive follows an incident resulting in the death of an employee earlier this month.
K92 Mining, headquartered in Vancouver, said on Wednesday that the incident was not work-related, citing preliminary findings by police.
The MRA issued a ‘Form 29’, requiring the suspension of underground operations until certain conditions are met. These include completing action orders in relation to an independent safety audit and the installation of a collision avoidance system.
In a statement, K92 raised concerns regarding the issuance of the Form 29, citing procedural, determination and jurisdictional breaches of the Mining (Safety) Act. The company has filed an appeal on March 14 and expects this to be addressed shortly.