Africa-Press – South-Africa. Gemfields, the JSE-listed miner of coloured gemstones, has evacuated employees and contractors from operations after an insurgent attack on a nearby village in the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique.
The attack, which occurred in the village of Nairoto shortly before midnight on Sunday, prompted Gemfields to evacuate operational employees and contractors from the Nairoto Resources exploration camp located 15km away from the village. Operations at Nairoto have been stopped.
Some 83km away from the Nairoto village is Gemfields’ Montepuez ruby mine, one of the most significant recently discovered ruby deposits in the world.
There is no present impact at these operations, the company said on Tuesday.
In June and July last year Gemfields warned insurgent attacks were moving closer to the Montepuez ruby mine. In October last year Montepuez employees were evacuated when insurgents attacked a neighbouring ruby mine belonging to Gemrock.
For the past five years, Mozambique has been battling attacks from violent extremists, linked to the radical Sunni militant group Islamic State.
The attacks have been focused on the oil-and-gas-rich Cabo Delgado province.
Last month, the province was rocked by three simultaneous attacks which coincided with a visit by the global CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, to the group’s local operations.
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