SSR Mining suspends gold production in Turkey following landslide
SSR Mining announced on Tuesday that it has halted production at its mine in eastern Turkey due to a landslide, leaving at least nine miners missing and causing its shares to plummet by over 50% on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The company, in a regulatory filing, stated that the suspension was necessitated by a significant landslide on the heap leach pad.
The affected mine, located in Erzincan province, is operated by Lidya Madencilik and is jointly owned by Turkey's Calik Holding and SSR Mining, based in Denver, Colorado.
In the third quarter of the previous year, the mine produced 56,768 ounces of gold, making it SSR's second-largest gold-producing asset, in operation since 2010. The decline in stock value erased approximately C$1.4 billion ($1.03 billion) from SSR Mining's market valuation.
CCTV footage captured a landslide at an Anagold Mining facility in Ilic, Turkey, on February 13, 2024. The video, shared on social media, shows a massive soil collapse, which authorities have identified as processed gold-bearing soil accumulated on the hills, cascading into the valley. This landslide sent a vast cloud of dust into the air.
As of now, SSR Mining has not provided comments in response to inquiries about the incident at its office in Turkey.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya reported that 400 search and rescue personnel are engaged in the search for the missing miners. Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, in a message on X (formerly known as Twitter), announced his decision to cut short his international engagements to oversee the rescue efforts in coordination with the president.
The government has initiated an investigation into the landslide, seeking to understand the causes and prevent future occurrences.
