9 still missing after landslide at Denver company’s Turkish mine

DENVER (KDVR) — A Denver-based mining company said the search for nine missing workers continues after a landslide engulfed a gold mine in eastern Turkey earlier this week.

SSR Mining Inc. said Friday that operations remain suspended at the Copler mine after the Tuesday incident.

“All available resources have been deployed to assist in the operation, with emergency crews and first responders working around-the-clock, utilizing advanced search techniques supported by aerial drones,” SSR said in part in a Friday statement.

SSR said eight Copler mine employees were detained during the investigation into what happened.

“SSR Mining is providing its full cooperation to the regulators on site and providing support to the individuals and their families,” the company said in its statement.

Second incident at Copler mine in recent years

SSR owns 80% of the entirety of the Copler district under Anagold Madencilik in partnership with Lidya Madencilik, according to the company, and the company’s exploration licenses surrounding the Copler mine span 17 km by 25 km (about 10.5 by 15.5 miles).

Video seemingly shot by a worker showed a huge mass of earth rushing down a gully, overrunning everything in its path. The landslide involved a mound of soil extracted from the mine, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

More than 800 search and rescue personnel, including police and military teams, mine rescuers and volunteers, were deployed to search for the nine missing personnel, Yerlikaya said.

Geologist Suleyman Pampal said the soil that formed the landslide had been processed for gold and may contain dangerous substances such as cyanide that is used to extract gold. He also warned of a threat to the nearby Euphrates River.

It’s the second incident at the site in recent years.

The mine was closed down in 2020 following a cyanide leak into the river, which stretches through Turkey, Syria and Iraq. It reopened two years later after the company was fined and a cleanup operation was completed.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.