Barrick Gold Corp. cut more than 200 jobs and shut one of three pits at its North Mara mine in northern Tanzania after theft and vandalism increased costs.
�The operation has experienced higher than expected operating costs,� Teweli K. Teweli, a spokesman in Tanzania, said in a statement e-mailed to reporters today. The company has �revised its labor requirements downwards by 19 percent.�
Police said on Jan. 26 they shot dead an intruder at the North Mara mine. Operations were temporarily suspended a month before after hundreds of people clashed with security, leaving one dead and $7 million in damages to property and equipment.
�Voluntary separation incentives� were accepted by 194 Tanzanian employees, while 22 foreign contract workers were laid off, the company said. About 715 remain, it said.
Barrick expects the open-pit mine to produce 225,000 to 245,000 ounces of gold in 2009, the statement said.
Tanzania is Africa�s third-largest gold producer after South Africa and Ghana. Barrick owns two other mines in Tanzania and is due to open a fourth in the country this year.
To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah McGregor via the Johannesburg bureau at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net |