Ivanhoe’s Kipushi zinc mine in the DRC officially reopens
The restart marked exactly a century since the mine first went into production.
Production at the Dwarsrivier chrome mine in South Africa was suspended this week after an employee tested positive for covid-19.
The worker was screened last week as part of mine’s return to work protocols and was tested after showing covid-19 symptoms, an Assore spokesman said.
Work at the mine, which produced 1.55 million tonnes of chrome ore in the last financial year, was suspended on Monday after the worker’s test proved positive a day earlier.
The suspension was a precautionary measure and the mine would resume operations once management had successfully completed an audit.
The worker had been in self-isolation for a week and other employees who were in close contact with him would remain in self-quarantine until their test results were known.
The National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) criticized Assore on Tuesday for not informing the union about the case until Monday.
The union has criticized the resumption of mining, saying workers cannot maintain social distancing in mines.
(By Helen Reid and Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Edmund Blair)
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