PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Alta Zinc has suspended drilling activities at its Gorno project, in Italy, as the Coronavirus continues to spread.
The company said on Friday that while the areas around the Gorno project had not been directly affected by the Covid-19 virus and had fallen outside of the restrictive zones mapped out by the Italian authorities, the Italian government has now decreed that all of Italy would be subject to restrictions in a bid to control the spread of the virus.
The new decree stipulates that private and public businesses should avoid unnecessary movement of people, including limiting direct personnel interaction and promoting smart working practices, and generally limiting physical business activity.
“Our priority is to complete our work effectively, with the safety of our personnel and the community being at the center of what we do,” said Alta MD Geraint Harris.
“Italy is battling Covid-19 with everything it has and as a company we will do our part to minimise the risk of potential virus transmission.
“This time will not be wasted as our geology team will be undertaking desktop analysis of the recent drilling, in the context of the historic data from the wider project area, in order to derive value from better understanding how this information can expand our future exploration success.
“Also our permitting team will continue to progress their equally important work in partnership with the regulators,” Harris said.