Search for dead miners continues

VANCOUVER – Rescuers digging through the rubble of a collapsed illegal gold mine in Ghana were closer to reaching some 40 people feared killed when a pit fell in on them eight days ago, property owner Newmont Mining Corp.

said on Thursday. “The humanitarian effort is still ongoing.We believe the team is moving closer to the area to where the illegal pit collapsed,” Newmont spokeswoman Heatheryn Higgins said from Newmont’s headquarters in Denver, Colorado.A five-member rescue team from AngloGold Ashanti, which has mining operations in the area, arrived on Saturday at the scene of the accident at Noyem-Nyafoman, a three-hour drive northeast of the capital Accra.Higgins said Newmont did not have staff in the area to lead the rescue as the world’s biggest gold miner does not have any mining operations on the site.The accident happened on August 10 but Newmont said it was only informed on August 12.Accidents at illegal small-scale mine sites are common in Ghana, Africa’s top gold producer after South Africa.A Ghana-based Newmont official said earlier this week that the company was aware that illegal mining activities were under way on its property.Newmont is advancing two gold exploration projects in Ghana, Ahafo and Akyem.- Nampa-Reuters”The humanitarian effort is still ongoing.We believe the team is moving closer to the area to where the illegal pit collapsed,” Newmont spokeswoman Heatheryn Higgins said from Newmont’s headquarters in Denver, Colorado.A five-member rescue team from AngloGold Ashanti, which has mining operations in the area, arrived on Saturday at the scene of the accident at Noyem-Nyafoman, a three-hour drive northeast of the capital Accra.Higgins said Newmont did not have staff in the area to lead the rescue as the world’s biggest gold miner does not have any mining operations on the site.The accident happened on August 10 but Newmont said it was only informed on August 12.Accidents at illegal small-scale mine sites are common in Ghana, Africa’s top gold producer after South Africa.A Ghana-based Newmont official said earlier this week that the company was aware that illegal mining activities were under way on its property.Newmont is advancing two gold exploration projects in Ghana, Ahafo and Akyem.- Nampa-Reuters