The shares of SSR Mining fell in both the US and Canadian stock markets after a mining accident occurred in the Copler Gold Mine in the eastern Erzincan province of Turkiye on Tuesday.
According to the data released by the American stock exchange company Nasdaq, SSR Mining lost more than 50% of its shares after the site of the Anagold Mining Company, a joint venture of SSR Mining and Lidya Mining Company, made headlines with a massive landslide, trapping at least nine miners.
After the company's shares closed at US$9.72 on Monday, they opened at US$8.25 on Tuesday. However, the shares of the mining company fell to a historical low of US$4.50 later on Tuesday over reports of the landslide. The company's shares are currently trading at US$4.53 at 2 p.m. local time (1100 GMT).
Similar to Nasdaq, the company lost more than 50% of its shares on the Toronto (Canada) stock exchange. SSR Mining’s shares closed at Can$13.08 and opened with Can$11.11 on Tuesday, but are currently trading at Can$6.08.
After an onsite evaluation at the Copler mining site on Wednesday, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said that all efforts are being made to rescue the trapped miners.
Bayraktar said in his address to reporters that 'while our immediate priority is the rescue of our fellow workers, we are simultaneously probing the root causes of the landslide and any operational negligence.'
The site, which has been running since 2004 under the management of private firm Anagold Mining, received additional environmental permits in 2021, Bayraktar said.
He said that investigations are being conducted into potential events that may have happened since the site's last inspection in August of last year, when no evidence of a cause for a landslide similar to the one that occurred on Tuesday was found.
By Duygu Alhan
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr