UPDATE: Australia's Superpit Gold Mine Workers Evacuated Following Earthquake
April 20 2010 - 12:00AM
Dow Jones News
North American gold miners Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) and
Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) said Tuesday they have evacuated workers
from their Kalgoorlie Superpit operation following an earthquake at
the Western Australian mining town.
"All personnel are safe," said Russell Cole, general manager of
KCGM, which operates the mine on behalf of the joint owners.
Underground crew from the Mount Charlotte mine have been brought
to surface, and will remain there until a safety assessment of the
area has been conducted, Cole said in a statement.
"Open pits have suspended operations and a full geotechnical
assessment is underway. This could take several hours," he
said.
A KCGM spokeswoman said that processing operations at the
Superpit, which produces up to 800,000 ounces a year of gold, are
also suspended, though this is the result of a scheduled 5-day
shutdown.
Meanwhile, a Barrick Gold spokeswoman said that a processing
mill at Barrick's 100%-owned Kanowna operations has been shut down
and workers evacuated from mine sites pending a safety
assessment.
All personnel are accounted for, she said.
The Kanowna mill processes ore from the Kanowna Belle, Raleigh
and Bullant mine sites.
Elsewhere, a spokesman for Mincor Resources NL (MCR.AU) said the
Australian nickel miner had felt no impact from the earthquake at
its Kambalda sites and production was continuing.
Norton Gold Fields Ltd.'s (NGF.AU) Paddington operations were
unaffected by the earthquake, a spokesman said.
The company's Homestead underground mine was evacuated as a
precautionary measure, but personnel have since returned to their
stations after a standard safety inspection. The operations consist
of the Paddington mill and a number of surrounding gold mines.
-By Stephen Bell, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires;
61-8-9244-4243; sgbell@bigpond.com
Mincor Resources Nl (ASX:MCR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Nov 2024 to Dec 2024
Mincor Resources Nl (ASX:MCR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Dec 2023 to Dec 2024