Sinivit: Issues resolved

THE management of the Sinivit gold mine in East New Britain says it has fully addressed concerns over its employees’ safety and health.
Niugini Gold Mine manager Eric Namaliu said the management sent word to the mines inspection branch of the Mineral Resource Authority (MRA) on Monday to visit the mine site and confirm the company’s compliance.
MRA shut down the mine’s operations after issuing a stop-work order last Nov 13.
MRA’s statement of Monday said the order was for safety and health reasons, which halted ore processing operations and withdrawal of employees from affected areas.
The Nov 13 order followed an inspection of the mine carried out by the deputy chief inspector of mines Lave Michael last Sept 24 during which serious threats to employees’ safety and health were identified.
The mine’s management was immediately notified.
The management then made several submissions containing details of rectification work.
However, MRA has deemed the submissions as being unsatisfactory, thus requiring the company “to fully rectify the critical defects listed in the inspector’s order” before seeking any consideration to resume work.
Mr Namaliu said some of these submissions that MRA wanted to be fully rectified included safety personal protective equipment requirements provided for employees, the documentation of chemical management system that the inspector could not see proof of, the non-availability of safety showers and appropriate water wash downs to wash off chemicals on outlying processing areas and a proper ambulance.
He said as of Sunday, the company management managed to fully rectify most of these defects.
Mr Namaliu said other mining activities and construction work were continuing normally, but all ore processing activities have been suspended.