Violence Forces Gemfields to Evacuate Mozambique Site
February 15, 23
(IDEX Online) - Gemfields has again been forced to evacuate workers amid ongoing violence in Mozambique.
It follows an attack blamed on Islamic State-linked insurgents at a village 15km from a site where a site of ruby exploration.
Gemfields, the UK-based gemstone miner, was forced to halted operations at its Montepuez ruby mine, and to evacuate the site last October after another attack by rebels on a nearby facility.
In a statement about the most recent incident, on 12 February, the company said: "An attack attributed to insurgents took place in the village of Nairoto in the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique.
"The village of Nairoto lies approximately 15km south west of the exploration camp of Nairoto Resources Limitada, in which Gemfields owns per cent."
The safety of employees and contractors was their highest priority, the company said, and it remained in regular contact with government authorities.
Thousands of people have died since the start of the brutal Cabo Delgado conflict in October 2017, aimed at establishing an Islamic state in Mozambique.
Pic shows Gemfields rubies