The Turkish government on Saturday shut down a gold mine where nine workers are still missing after a landslide.
Environmental groups and even industry associations have been calling for the controversial mine to be stripped of its operating permit ever since a massive landslide rolled over the open pit Tuesday.
The Environment Ministry Saturday said in a statement it was withdrawing the mine’s “environmental permit”, without which it cannot operate.
According to a preliminary experts’ report, the mine’s managers didn’t take the necessary precautions even though they were aware of cracks in the mine’s slag heap.
Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said earlier Saturday that six managers at the mine had been arrested Friday evening, and two others released with conditions.
According to Turkish press reports, a Canadian citizen working for the Anagold company that runs the mine was among the detained.
Toronto and Denver-based SSR Mining holds 80 percent of Anagold, with the rest held by Turkish company Lidya.
The mine, which employs 667 people, closed for a few months after a 2022 cyanide leak caused by a burst pipe but then reopened after its operator paid a fine, prompting outcries from Turkey’s opposition parties.
Efforts to find the missing miners have been slowed by the risk of fresh landslides.
“Clearing the mass of earth that covers the riverbed is our priority, and we want to avoid the risk of contaminating the water,” Bayraktar told a press conference near the site of the accident in the north-east of the country.
According to experts, the earth could contain cyanide used to extract gold, which risks polluting the region which is a watershed for the Euphrates River.
The minister said water is being tested daily in nine different locations and there is no health risk for the moment.
