Killing of contractors casts pall over Continental’s Buritica project in Colombia

Over the last year, Continental Gold (TSX: CNL; US-OTC: CGOOF) has had a series of successes in Colombia. It received the final environmental permit for its Buritica gold project in November 2016, and in May, closed private placements with Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) and Red Kite Mine Finance. The company has ordered long lead-time equipment – SAG and ball mills, tailing filters, thickeners and a water-handling and treatment plant –- and hired key project personnel. In April Continental confirmed that it was on track to pour its first gold in early 2020. But the gruesome deaths last month of six security contractors providing services to the company on its Buritica concession, has cast a pall over the company and the country. The security contractors were apparently accosted and later asphyxiated by a group of illegal miners following an explosion in an illegal underground mine that had been closed by the government. Continue reading at The Northern Miner.