Trevali Mining (TSX: TV)’s president and chief executive Ricus Grimbeek has left the company following a Burkina Faso court’s verdict that found two employees guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
The convictions are related to a tragic incident at the Canadian company’s Perkoa zinc mine in the west African nation caused by a flash flood in April, which trapped and killed eight miners.
South African Hein Frey was fined $3,000 and given a suspended 24-month prison sentence. Australian Daryl Christensen, who worked for contracting company Byrnecut, was handed a 12-month suspended sentence and fined $1,500.
In addition to Grimbeek, who is the former head of Vale’s Sudbury operations, Trevali’s chief operating officer Derek du Preez and director Dan Isserow also resigned, the company said in a news release late on Sept. 16.
The struggling miner has also begun a court-approved sales process for its interest in the 90%-owned Rosh Pinah zinc-lead-silver mine, in Namibia, and its fully-owned Caribou mine, in New Brunswick.
Unexpected rainfall
Unseasonal, heavy rainfall caused flash floods on Apr. 16 that left eight workers missing underground at the Perkoa mine.
Trevali spent the next two months pumping out about 137 million litres of water. Equipment had to be imported from other countries, including Ghana and South Africa, raising questions about the company’s preparedness for disasters.
Operations at the underground mine, which produced about 316.2 million pounds of zinc in 2021, have been halted since the tragic incident and Trevali has suspended its production and cost guidance for 2022 for Perkoa.
Earlier this month, the Vancouver-based company announced it was delisting from the Toronto Stock Exchange, effective Monday Oct. 3 after close. The decision came after the company filed an application for creditor protection under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
CCAA allows companies to restructure and carry on their business while avoiding the “social and economic consequences of bankruptcy.”
Trading is also expected to stop on the Lima Stock Exchange, OTCQX and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
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