One worker killed, eight still missing after landslide at SSR Mining Turkish gold operation

Colorado-based gold producer SSR Mining (ASX: SSR, TSX: SSRM, NASDAQ: SSRM) has provided an update to the devastating landslide at its Copler mine in Turkey last month, reporting the death of one worker among nine who had gone missing.

The landslide occurred on February 13 in the vicinity of Çöpler’s leach pad, causing an immediate suspension of activity at the operation, and the deployment of hundreds of search and rescue personnel to look for the workers.

As part of this process, the company said more than four million tonnes of displaced material had been removed from the Sabırlı Valley, Manganese Pit and heap leach pad.

However, in an update on April 5, SSR Mining announced that one of the workers had been found in the manganese pit, stating that their family and government authorities had been notified.

Following the incident in February, the company’s shares plunged by almost fifty percent in New York, and eight of its employees were detained as the matter was investigated.

It was not the first incident to prompt a suspension of operations at the mine: in June 2022, a suspension was ordered by the Turkish environment ministry after a spill of cyanide waste.

SSR Mining is trading at $7.26c.