A controversial gold mine in Thailand restarted operations on 23 March 2023... more than six years after the government forced it to close over health and environmental concerns.
The Chatree complex, which straddles three rural provinces in the kingdom's north, had been dogged by legal disputes and protests by villagers who said it poisoned crops and livestock.
The mine's Australian owner, Kingsgate Consolidated, launched arbitration proceedings seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation but, after negotiations, the government agreed last year to allow the reopening.
The mine, operated by Thai subsidiary Akara Resources and billed by its owners as Thailand's largest, poured its first bars of gold-silver alloy, processed from ore stockpiled in 2016, on March 23.
Akara Resources mining manager Rob Kinnaird said the reopening would be a boost for the area. Its current workforce numbers 280 but could more than double in coming years.
While the reopening coincided with the gold price rising to $2,000 an ounce for the first time in a year, many welcome the economic boost, but some were still worried about chemicals and metals. Others were concerned about blast noise and dust causing respiratory illnesses.
Chatree produced more than 1.8 million ounces of gold and nine million ounces of silver between 2001-2017.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
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