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Century workers safe amid bushfire closing operations

Sibanye-Stillwater has confirmed all personnel at its Century operation in Queensland are safe and accounted for as a bushfire has led to the suspension of operations.

Touted to be the largest tailings retreatment operation in Australia and ranking among the top 15 zinc producers worldwide, Century produced 76,000 tonnes of zinc last year.

The mine was shut down on Friday due to the fire, with the company reporting “extensive loss” to piping infrastructure.

Century operational teams are currently joining the effort to manage the bushfire at Century and in the neighbouring area.

Sibanye-Stillwater chief executive officer Neal Froneman said the safety and well-being of employees and contractors is the company’s foremost priority.

“This incident once more highlights the threat posed by climate change, leading to significant harm from extreme weather-related events worldwide,” he said.

“This affirms our purpose of “safeguarding global sustainability through our metals” and the critical importance of resource stewardship and optimising scarce resources, including through reprocessing of legacy tailings facilities as is done by the Century operations.

“This setback is unfortunate considering the Century operation had recovered well after heavy rains affected Q1 2024.”

Due to the amount of piping required, operations are expected to remain suspended until at least November 16.

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