Barrick suspends Papua New Guinea mine after deadly clashes
Barrick Gold suspended operations at a gold mine in Papua New Guinea after violent clashes in the area killed two company employees.
Mining was halted in a move to protect employees at the Porgera project, with operations due to re-open on Thursday, according to a statement from Barrick’s local unit on Tuesday. Most of the mine’s workforce is from the local community, it said.
The violence broke out about a week ago between two groups of illegal miners, according to Máté Bagossy, United Nations’ humanitarian adviser for the South Pacific nation. At least 20 people have been killed, he said.
“The information that we have is that the last 24 hours have been more calm, but is too early to evaluate whether this already a sign of a general de-escalation or not,” Bagossy said in a reply to questions on Wednesday. Several factors — possibly including tribal affiliations and alliances — were driving the violence, he added.
Barrick, the world’s second-largest gold company, reached an agreement with Papua New Guinea last year to reopen Porgera, which had been suspended since 2020. Porgera accounted for about 5% of the company’s total gold output in 2019.
Papua New Guinea has granted police emergency powers to quell the conflict, the government said in a separate statement.
Barrick owns 24.5% of the mine, while China’s Zijin Mining Group Co. also has a stake in Porgera.
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