Guinea charges 60 over deadly gold mine riot

CONAKRY, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Guinea has charged 60 people with arson, theft and murder after a deadly riot at the privately-owned Weily Mining firm in the northeastern gold-producing Siguiri region, prosecutors said on Friday. Unrest broke out on October 4 after locals demanded the release of 17 people detained over an earlier vandalism incident at the same site, Siguiri’s public prosecutor Ibrahima I. Camara said in a statement. Protesters stormed the mine, torching 10 buses, two pickup trucks – including one belonging to the gendarmerie – and two buildings. Two people were killed and several others injured, it added. The charges include voluntary arson, destruction of property, and complicity in murder. Weily Mining, which said it exported its first gold from the Niagassola mine in September 2024 did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The violence highlights growing tensions in Siguiri, home to AngloGold Ashanti's multiple open pit gold mines and plagued by illegal artisanal mining. Guinea, which holds the world’s largest bauxite reserves and vast iron ore deposits at Simandou, has seen rising unrest at mining sites amid a regulatory crackdown. The military junta, in power since 2021, has sought to boost economic growth by renegotiating mining contracts, accelerating project development, and increasing state earnings from Guinea’s vast natural resource wealth. Authorities said investigations into the riot will be conducted jointly by the police and gendarmerie. (Reporting by Saliou Samb; Writing by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Editing by Louise Heavens)

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