miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Kingsgate Consolidated went into a trading halt on Wednesday on news that the company’s Chatree gold mine, in Thailand, had been closed owing to health concerns.
Thai authorities have ordered Kingsgate to suspend mining activities at the Chatree mine for a period of 30 days, after random urine and blood tests from villagers nearby the mine revealed above-standard arsenic and manganese levels.
The Institute of Forensic Science was quoted as saying that mining might have affected the health of the villagers.
Concerns around the health of villagers were first raised last year, after a number of activists petitioned for blood and urine tests from the local community. The Thai National Council for Peace and Order stepped in in November, appointing the Institute of Forensic Science to re-test villagers.
At the end of November, the Institute of Forensic Science warned that as many as 6 000 people living near the gold mine had heavy metals in their blood.
Kingsgate subsidiary Akara Resources maintained at the time that the company was operating according to best international practice on health and environmental standards, with the company routinely conducting health checks among its own employees.
Kingsgate told shareholders on Wednesday that the trading halt would remain in place until January 16, until the company was ready to make an announcement regarding the closure of the Chatree mine.
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