13 Illegal Miners Killed At AngloGold Ashanti Mine In Guinea
At least 13 illegal gold miners were killed after a landslide in an mine in northeastern Guinea, the country’s mining minister said Thursday.
The miners were caught by surprise and buried under earth at the mine run by SAG, a subsidiary of South African AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG.JO), on Tuesday near Siguiri, 700 kilometers northwest of Conakry.
“We can confirm that there were 13 dead in a landslide in an SAG concession,” Mining Minister Lounceny Nabe told AFP.
While SAG mines gold on an industrial scale at the site close to Guinea’s border with Mali, thousand of illegal miners dig for gold with no security measures.
The illegal miners also clash frequently with police in charge of protecting the mine.
Earlier this week protests erupted in Siguiri against SAG, but Nabe said Tuesday’s accident “has nothing to do with the demonstrations of the last few days.”
Dozens of people set up barricades and blocked roads to protest against power cuts which they blamed on SAG.
The demonstrators, mainly students, also complained that little of the mining wealth trickles down to the local population.
Guinea has vast mineral wealth with bauxite, iron, gold and uranium deposits, yet many of its nine million people live on less than a dollar a day.
In the last few weeks, social unrest has been increasing with several protests around the country.
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