A Turkish court has issued a stay against the expansion of a gold mine in eastern Turkey which was the scene of a deadly landslide last month that trapped nine miners, the BBC Turkish reported.
The Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects’ Chambers (TMMOB) has filed two lawsuits over the past three years demanding a stay on the expansion of the Çöpler gold mine in Turkey’s eastern Erzincan province.
The tragedy at the Çöpler gold mine occurred in Erzincan on February 13 when a massive landslide sent some 10 million cubic meters of earth contaminated with cyanide and sulphuric acid sliding down the 200-meter-high slope of the heap leach pad, leaving nine workers trapped.
The mine is operated by Anagold Madencilik and owned by Turkey-based Çalık Holding and Denver, Colorado-based SSR Mining.
The TMMOB challenged in court the approval of an environmental impact assessment report issued by the ministry of environment, urbanization and climate change in 2021.
The TMMOB also challenged the ministry’s decision last year that found an environmental impact assessment report unnecessary for the expansion of the mine’s open-pit operations.
The court ruled for a stay in both lawsuits.
TMMOB Secretary-General Dersim Gül said the mining company had already expanded its operations to a great extent before waiting for the conclusion of the court process.
The landslide at the Çöpler gold mine put a spotlight on the environmental and safety practices of the mining operation.
Although the authorities claim that no contamination was detected in the samples taken from the site of the landslide, experts warn that the spread-out area, where there is no protection whatsoever, makes it impossible for cyanide and heavy metals not to contaminate the soil.
Search and rescue efforts for the nine trapped workers were halted a week after the incident due to risk of new landslides in the area.
Over the weekend, two engineers were arrested as part of an investigation into the incident, which brought the number of those arrested as part of the same investigation to eight. Among them are several executives of the mining company, including a Canadian citizen.
