13th Jan 2016 09:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Xtract Resources PLC Wednesday said the processing plant at the Chepica mine in Chile is set to restart operations within the next week after authorities shutdown the plant over the festive period following the death of two of Xtract's employees on Christmas Eve.
Xtract shares were trading up 5.0% to 0.210 pence per share on Wednesday morning.
The accidents occurred after an individual being trained at the mine entered a restricted area without the necessary safety equipment for "unexplained reasons" which led to the shift supervisor attempting to rescue the trainee, only to lead to another death.
Although the local Inspector of Mines concluded no workers were negligent, and no health and safety standards or procedures were contravened, it shutdown the plant and made recommendations to the company, which have now been implemented.
The underground mining operation was largely unaffected by the incident, which resumed less than a week after the accident occurred.
On Wednesday, Xtract said the plant is ready to resume operations and authorities are expected to grant final approval "no later" than January 20. When the plant was originally suspended, Xtract said the plant was expected to remain closed until Tuesday.
"I am pleased to confirm that we have implemented the recommendations for the Mine on schedule, and I am particularly encouraged with the progress we have made to date at our underground development," said Chief Executive Jan Nelson.
"We are on reef in three ends at much higher grades than anticipated at the Colin prospect and considerable strike-length for mining is available. The company also intends to report drilling results from our surface drilling program before month-end," he added.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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