Resolute Mining says it will pay Mali $160 million in tax dispute
The company’s shares in Sydney were suspended on Thursday, after tumbling 40% since news of the detention of CEO Terry Holohan.
Peru’s environmental agency, El Organismo de Evaluación y Fiscalización Ambiental, (OEFA) has ruled out that a “greenish solution” found in a river near Southern Copper Corp’s Cuajone mine was the product of a tailings spill.
In a statement late Tuesday, OEFA noted it was still supervising operations at the mine, which is located in an area hit by heavy rains over the past week.
Southern Copper suspended the copper ore concentrator at the mine on Friday as a precaution, and said it wouldn’t restart it for another three to five days while work is done on its tailings and railway infrastructure affected by the wet weather.
Mining is a key industry in Peru, which is the world’s second largest copper and silver producing country, and the sixth when it comes to gold. The sector accounts for about 60% of the Andean nation’s export earnings.
Tailings dams are coming under increasing scrutiny following the collapse at Vale’s Córrego do Feijão iron ore mine in Brazil last month, the second such accident involving the same company in about three years.
Comments
Tim Oliver
My guess is recent rains saturated a mine waste rock dump (not tailings) that normally has no seepage. Excess rain exceeded the dump’s capacity to store and release (via evapotranspiration) fluids and now has an observable liquid flow rich enough in copper to turn it green.