Centerra Gold (CG-T) says operations at its Kumtor gold mine in the Kyrgyz Republic remain unaffected after thousands of opposition protestors stormed the country’s presidential headquarters in the capital, Bishkek.
Some injuries have been reported as protestors clashed with government supporters. Opposition leader Felix Kulov made a televised appeal for calm after protestors freed him from jail, and seized control of state television. Some reports suggest that President Askar Akayev and his family have fled to neighbouring Kazakhstan.
The takeover in Bishkek follows earlier protests in the southern part of the country leading up to the Feb. 27 parliamentary elections. Those protests blocked access to Kumtor for four days, and forced Centerra to briefly scale back mining.
In the end, the results of the elections proved inconclusive, with 44 seats left to be decided in runoff elections on March 13. More recently, Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court declared the election invalid and ruled that the former parliament was the legitimate legislature.
Despite the earlier protests, Kumtor, about 350 km east Bishkek, is still expected to meet production forecasts of 131,000 oz. of gold for the first quarter of 2005.
Centerra says it plans to “closely monitor and evaluate the situation and will issue further updates as warranted.”
The news sent shares in Centerra as much as $1.24, or 6.6%, lower to $17.51 in morning trading in Toronto on Mar. 24.
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