Nov 12 (Reuters) – Barrick Mining is furloughing some employees and subcontractors at its Kibali gold mine in Democratic Republic of Congo after officials reported two Ebola deaths in a nearby community, according to an internal company memo seen by Reuters on Thursday.
• The memo, signed by Acting General Manager Jean Marc Badibanga and dated Thursday, said the deaths had been confirmed by Congo’s National Institute of Biomedical Research and that Barrick was working to confirm “whether there are any links to our workforce”
• The furloughs would affect employees and subcontractors “whose presence is not essential” and those people would be informed directly, the memo said, without providing a figure
• Employees feeling unwell are instructed not to report to work and to contact company medical staff immediately, the memo said
• Toronto-listed Barrick did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday
• Barrick said last May it had increased Ebola precautions at the Kibali gold mine in Haut-Uele province
• Kibali, jointly owned by Barrick and AngloGold Ashanti with 45% each, and 10% by Congo state miner SOKIMO, is one of Africa’s largest gold mines
• Congo’s Ebola outbreak, the second-largest on record, has infected more than 11,000 people and killed more than 5,000 people, according to government data
• There have been no Ebola cases at industrial mines but the outbreak has affected artisanal operations
(Reporting by Fiston Mahamba; Additional reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Writing by Amindeh Blaise Atabong; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Jonathan Spicer )
