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Mining at Lucapa Diamond Company Ltd (ASX:LOM)‘s Lulo mine in Angola has been cut short through a blockade of all entrances by local community leaders, with the company saying that mine workers had been prevented from entering or leaving the site.
Processing of stockpiled ore is continuing, although downtime has been called at the processing plant, since workers who live outside the mine gates have been prevented from entering.
Alluvial mining and kimberlite bulk sampling have also been interrupted.
Lucapa said its main priority was ‘the ongoing safety and wellbeing of its employees’, although it also acknowledged that the blockade was currently peaceful.
It also noted that production results for the first quarter of 2025 could be impacted by the blockade if it was not resolved soon, since stockpiled gravel was being depleted.
The company defined demands that had been made by community leaders to Lulo’s operating entity Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo as ‘unreasonable’, and said that issues being pursued by the group in question are ‘the responsibility of the local authorities to provide’.
In a statement authorised by the board, managing director and CEO Alex Kidman said Lucapa had provided consistent support to the local community and followed its social responsibilities, but that the new demands were ‘unreasonable and unexpected’.
“Discussions are underway between the community leaders and a government delegation including representatives of the Regional Governor to peacefully end the blockade, however no progress has currently been made,” he said.
At 14:03 AEDT, shares in Lucapa were trading at 1.7 cents – a fall of 5.55% since the market opened.
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