Canadian company SSR Mining has confirmed a suspension of operations at its Çöpler gold mine in Turkey following a leak of leach solution containing about 8kg of diluted cyanide from a pipeline supplying the mine’s leach pad.
SSR says the temporary shutdown, ordered during a visit to the mine by Turkish environmental authorities on June 28, will remain while it implements agreed improvements to the heap leach system. It expects to bring the system back to full capacity within weeks.
SSR says the pipeline leak on June 21 was cleaned up immediately and has previously denied any environmental damage or external discharge.