Open-pit mining operations to be suspended in Sotk gold mine after Azerbaijani firing; personnel to be sent to forced downtime

GPM Gold LLC reports: “Since the evening, April 14, the Sotk gold mine has been under constant fire by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. The working personnel of the mine have tried many times to return to their duties, but they couldn’t on account of the fire opened from different caliber firearms. No casualties have been reported. Minor damage was caused to the equipment.

The employees of the company have been exposed to a state of constant danger for more than a month. Further work is impossible in the Sotk open-pit mine due to circumstances beyond the Company’s control.

The Company is in a  state of force majeure. For security reasons, the management of GPM Gold LLC has decided to suspend the open-pit mining operations and send the employees to forced downtime.”