An executive of SSR Mining (TSX: SSRM; ASX: SSR) in charge of its operations in Turkey has been detained by authorities following last week’s gold mine disaster, reports Sky News.
According to the British news network, Cengiz Demirci, Turkey director and senior vice-president of operations, is the latest figure associated with the Denver-based miner to be held in custody.
As Reuters had reported on Friday, as many as eight SSR employees were detained amid an investigation into a massive landslide at the Copler mine that left nine workers missing since Tuesday.
Turkey’s energy minister says hundreds of search and rescue personnel are still looking for the missing workers, who were presumably trapped under rubble after the landslide engulfed the gold mine, located in the mountainous Erzincan province of in eastern Turkey.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s environment ministry announced over the weekend that it is cancelling the environmental permit and licence held by Anagold Madencilik, the Copler mine operator that is 80% owned by SSR.
Experts have warned the mine site is a potential environmental hazard, because the soil was laced with dangerous substances, including cyanide, which is used in gold extraction. In 2020, the mine was temporarily shut down following a cyanide leak into the Euphrates River.
SSR Mining said late on Friday that all operations at Copler remain suspended. The company, through Anagold, has operated the mine since 2009, employing more than 650 people.
The mine disaster has so far wiped out about nearly half (US$1 billion) of the company’s market value on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
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