Smoke inhalation kills two miners in Ghana

Two underground mine workers succumbed to smoke inhalation sickness following exposure to blasting gasses at Golden Star's Prestea underground gold mine in Ghana on December 29.

In a statement, Golden Star said it suspended operations at Prestea to allow for the initial investigation of the incident. The mine has now resumed full operation. Mine management and the Inspector of Mines are conducting further investigations.

"We are deeply saddened by the passing of two of our colleagues," said Sam Coetzer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Golden Star.

"On behalf of us all at Golden Star, and particularly the close-knit team at Prestea, we extend our sincerest condolences to the individuals' families and friends. Safety is our highest priority and we take great care in ensuring that all of our underground team members have self-rescuers and that they are trained to use them correctly. We are conducting further investigations to understand why this tragedy occurred and how to prevent it from happening again."

Golden Star is an established gold mining company that owns and operates the Wassa and Prestea mines situated on the prolific Ashanti Gold Belt in Ghana, West Africa.

Golden Star's Prestea is an underground gold mine located in Ghana. Map is courtesy of Mining Intelligence.