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LONDON (Alliance News) - Griffin Mining Ltd Thursday said the Chinese safety bureau has lifted its suspension order and allowed the recommencement of mining and haulage operations at the Caijiaying mine following the death of a contractor in the middle of last year.
The death of an employee of the mining contractor operating the mine in the middle of last year initially led to operations being suspended for a couple of weeks. However, in October, operations were suspended again so it could carry out an internal investigation into the death.
Although operations had been suspended since mid-October, Griffin continued to process its stockpiled ore to maintain production rates.
Griffin was fined CNY500,000 over the death, which equates to a small sum of GBP52,000.
On Monday, Griffin said the Chinese state safety bureau had completed an investigation into the death and ruled that the primary cause of death was the poor quality cement provided. On Thursday, it confirmed the suspension had been lifted and said blasting is expected to recommence before the end of this week.
Blasting is an essential part of the mining cycle. In virtually all forms of mining, rock is broken by drilling and blasting the rock. Blasting technology is the process of fracturing material by the use of a calculated amount of explosive so that a predetermined volume of material is broken.
Griffin shares were down 0.1% to 25.22 pence per share on Thursday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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