The accord involves building a 200-tonnes-per-year refinery.

The incident occurred on a concession belonging to a subsidiary of Chinese state miner Zijin Mining.

Gold has had a surprisingly strong run through much of the year, rallying further in October as the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated.

"If there's anything about a pause on rate hikes, you could see gold steadily above $2,000," said analyst.

Neil Woodyer’s transformation from shy schoolboy to gold magnate and lessons from five decades of mining sector experience.

The West African country has rich mineral reserves of diamonds, gold and iron ore.

The BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship confirmed there is no basis to cancel the licence under the provisions of the relevant legislation or the terms of the licence.