VANCOUVER - B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO) has halted operations at its El Limon Mine in Nicaragua after violence linked to an ongoing blockade left a national police officer dead and 23 were injured in clashes with protesting workers demanding the reinstatement of fired employees at a Nicaraguan gold mine.
Looks a woman carries a shotgun, gas mask and baton taken from a riot police officer after clashes between striking miners and riot police in El Limon, Nicaragua, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. The miners where protesting against the firing of several union members by the Canadian B2Gold gold mining company when the clashes erupted. According to the police one police officer died in the violence.
The Vancouver-based company said in a statement early today that violence broke out and there was "significant material damage" when police tried to clear access to the mining operation's main entrance.
National police chief Aminta Granera said the officer was beaten to death, and that several police and mine vehicles were destroyed. Miners said the policeman died of a heart attack.
The miners also burned a local police station, briefly took 15 officers hostage and set up barricades in the streets.
B2Gold said the "illegal blockade" is a result of a small group of people protesting contract cancellation of three former workers. The company says the contract cancellation was approved by the Ministry of Labor for just cause.
The company said it is calling for calm, adding "the majority of the population wants peace and progress."
B2Gold said it will review the situation in the coming days with labour and government in order to determine an appropriate strategy to deal with the situation.
In February, B2Gold said two security guards were shot and killed at its Masbate Gold Project in the Philippines. Those deaths followed the shooting death of a long-time employee last December at the same operation about 350 kilometres south of Manila.
The Vancouver-based B2Gold company had said it was weighing closing the mine. Associated Press
B2Gold's other mining operation is in Namibia and it has properties in Mali, Burkina Faso and Colombia.
Source : The Canadian Press
Photograph by: Eddy Lopez, La Prensa via AP
