A police officer is dead and several people were injured after violence broke out at B2Gold’s (TSX:BTO) El Limon mine in Nicaragua.
The incident occurred after national police attempted to clear access to the mine, which has been blocked by “a small group of workers, community members and other persons not affiliated with El Limon Mine,” the Vancouver miner said in a press statement.
The town itself currently remains calm, according to B2Gold, which said hundreds of locals and mineworkers met October 6 to publicly ask for resumption of operations.
The company said the illegal blockade began at the conclusion of a legal process instituted to dismiss three employees who were complicit in initiating prior illegal blockades. The dismissal was reviewed and sanctioned by the Ministry of Labour.
The company is maintaining its 2015 production guidance "subject to a timely resolution, management expects output of 55,000 – 65,000 ounces of gold representing some 11% of 2015 consolidated guidance.
"Production year-to-date at the mine has met or exceeded budget," B2Gold said.
In 2013 hundreds of small miners in Nicaragua protested against B2Gold's expansion plans for its La Libertad mine in the central region of the central American country.
