AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine in South Africa has actually been temporarily closed after 164 workers evaluated favorable for the Coronavirus, the gold miner said in a statement on Sunday.
Anglogold Ashanti, the deepest in the world, only re-opened in April after being shut under a nationwide lockdown and had been operating at around 50% capacity. It accounted for around 7.4% of the business’s total gold production in 2019.
AngloGold Ashanti, which also operates mines in other places in Africa, South America, and Australia, stated it had actually carried out 650 tests at Mponeng because finding the first case of the virus there last week, and 164 workers had actually tested positive with only a handful of tests left to process.
It included that the vast majority of the cases were asymptomatic and all those who checked favorable would be separated in line with national health procedures, with on-site facilities readily available for those who need them.
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The declaration followed a statement by a provincial health department earlier on Sunday that underground operations at the mine would be closed up until more notice after 53 workers had evaluated favorable.
Like all South African mines, Mponeng, which used an average of 5,051 people consisting of specialists in 2019, was allowed to return to operating at 50% capability in April when the lockdown, among the world’s most restrictive, was reduced.
But some employees, specifically those employed at deep mines, have raised concerns about returning to operate in an environment where social distancing is difficult.
A number of other mines in the market, which employs around 500,000 individuals, have actually likewise had to momentarily close after workers checked positive for the infection, including mines owned by Impala Platinum and Assore.
