“We’re halting operations of the gold mine due to a fault at its pipelines,” the ministry said Monday.
A spill containing about 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds) of depleted cyanide took place on June 21, according to a statement on Anagold’s website. Copler, about 650 miles (1,046 kilometers) east of Istanbul in the province of Erzincan, had been expected to produce as much as 285,000 ounces of gold this year, according to a presentation on SSR Mining’s website.
The “minor leak” of cyanide within a diluted solution was cleaned up without any environmental impact or discharge from the site, SSR Mining said in a statement Monday. The company said it’s seeking a formal response from the ministry.
Sedat Cezayirlioglu, an environmental activist in the area, disputed Anagold’s statement on the size of the spill. A much larger volume of waste containing cyanide was spilled and threatens the nearby Euphrates River, he said,…
