Demonstrators have blocked the road to the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan, though owner Centerra Gold (CG-T) says operations are continuing as normal.
The company announced the roadblock had been put up as a protest over the 1998 cyanide spill at a bridge on the Barskoon River, where a truck carrying sodium cyanide to the mine overturned. Wire service and local reports said the protestors were demanding further compensation for the accident, beyond that contained in a 1999 agreement between the mine’s operating company and the Kyrgyz government.
This is the third road-blocking incident to affect the mine this year. Protests also took place in February and July; after the July protest the new Kyrgyz government agreed to appoint a commission to revisit the compensation issue.
Centerra said it was in discussions with the central government in Bishkek, as well as local authorities, to resolve the protest.
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