TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Unexpected waste movement was again forcing Canadian gold miner Centerra Gold to adjust plans at its flagship Kumtor mine, in Kyrgyzstan, following the faster-than-expected waste movement in a large section of Kumtor's main waste-rock dump, the Davidov Valley waste-rock dump.

Centerra late on Friday said that beginning in mid-March, the rate of movement of the waste-rock dump increased by more than the company had expected, and required an accelerated effort to relocate certain mine infrastructure. Employees in the affected buildings had to be moved to temporary work locations, until new facilities were constructed.

The waste-rock movement had required certain mine infrastructure to relocate, including workshops, administrative facilities and electrical substations. Centerra said it had expedited this process to ensure continued safe operations, and planned gold production to date had not been affected.

As a result of the increase in movement, Centerra was now placing waste rock on permitted sites currently unaffected by the movement and was working on an alternative long-term waste-rock dumping plan.

Centerra said it was working with the Kyrgyz regulatory authorities and external engineering advisers to fast-track approval of such a plan, and based on discussions with the authorities, the company believed that such approvals were likely to be forthcoming, but could not be guaranteed.

Centerra said in the event that an alternative plan could be developed or approved promptly, the company would expect a negative impact on its mine operations, production and financial results.

The Kyrgyz government had established a special commission to visit the Kumtor mine site and inspect the waste-rock dump movement.

Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan in February had given Centerra three months to redraw terms before ripping up an agreement to run its flagship mine, accusing the Canadian miner of "colossal" environmental damage and underpaying the State.

Centerra, whose shares have halved since the Kyrgyz government said in June it would review the mine deal, said the 2009 agreement was "solid and transparent" and it had already started talking to the government.

The Kumtor mine, bisected by a glacier 4 000 m above sea level, is the largest gold mine in Central Asia operated by a Western company. It is the industrial centerpiece of the fragile Kyrgyz economy, contributing 12% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011.

Kyrgyzstan's GDP contracted by 0.9% last year after Centerra reduced output at the mine by 40% as a result of ice movement in the pit.