Harmony halts Hidden Valley JV operations

[miningmx.com] — Harmony Gold Mining on Wednesday said it had halted operations at its Hidden Valley joint venture operation in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

The company said the temporary suspension followed a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in PNG early on Wednesday morning.

The mine is operated in partnership with Newcrest Mining.

Harmony said a thorough geotechnical and structural evaluation was being conducted before operations could be resumed.

“Preliminary investigations have identified no major damage,” Harmony said in a statement.

Hidden Valley employed an average of 2,390 people in its 2011 financial year, 1,440 of these were contractors.

The operation produced 200,492 ounces of gold and 1.3 million ounces of silver during the year.