On Monday, Syrah Resources [ASX:SYR] was forced to temporarily suspend operations at its Mozambique graphite site over ‘security concerns’ in the Namuno district, 50 km away from its Balama operation.
Syrah did note that after engaging with stakeholders, it will undertake the safe return of the workforce to Balama from Monday.
SYR shares were down 3% late in afternoon trade.
Source: Tradingview.com
Syrah temporarily halts Balama operations over security concerns
Today Syrah shared the unfolding of security concerns that arose near its Balama mining site, this time in the Namuno District, 50 km away.
The company has taken precautionary measures, suspending operations onsite and vacating most of its workers and contractors from the site.
Security personnel and a few remaining employees remained onsite, though Syrah insisted, ‘all employees were safe’.
Operations have evidently now resumed.
‘Syrah’s highest priority is the health and safety of employees and contractors,’ the company stated.
‘Through close engagement with Government, security authorities and other stakeholders monitoring the situation, Syrah has assessed that the safe return of the workforce to site and resumption of operations at Balama will be undertaken from today.’
The news follows reports from the region of ‘insurgent attacks’ having taken place this year.
In June, both Syrah Resources and Triton Metals [ASX:TON] were affected by the ‘second reported attack in the Ancuabe region’, causing them to block logistics movements and put precautionary measures in place.
And it hasn’t just been nearby political attacks that have been causing disruption. Two months ago, SYR emerged from a trading halt after working to resolve internal labour issues.
Syrah’s employees were reportedly involved in ‘illegal industrial action by a small contingent of local employees and contractors,’ causing a partial loss of Syrah’s workforce.
At the time, the company had said:
‘Syrah is focussed on resolving the industrial action through mediation and negotiation under the legal framework of the CLA …. Syrah fully supports the rights of employees and contractors to collectively organise under Mozambican labour law and is committed to working constructively with the Union to resolve outstanding issues.’
Last week, a Mozambique publication revealed that Syrah had fired 14 of the industrial action leaders involved in the strike.
Syrah has not provided any further comments on the situation.
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