ISTANBUL, Feb 14, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Calls grew in Turkey on Wednesday to shut 
down a controversial gold mine as hopes dimmed of rescuing nine workers 
trapped by a massive landslide that rolled over their open pit.

Officials on Wednesday also reported the arrest of four people, including the 
open pit's field manager, in the opening stages of their investigation into 
the accident.

Hundreds of rescuers have been searching through a cyanide-laced field in 
eastern Turkey since Tuesday, when 10 million cubic metres of sludge suddenly 
crashed down from a gully.

Turkey's Union of Chambers of Engineers and Architects urged the government 
to shut down the mine "immediately", saying its past warning about a looming 
disaster had gone unheeded.

"All those responsible for the disaster should be held accountable before the 
judiciary," it said in a statement.

"All environmental impact reports should be cancelled and the plant should be 
closed immediately."

Environmentalists fear that cyanide and sulphuric acid used in the gold 
extraction process could spread into the Euphrates River, which runs from 
Turkey to neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

Turkey's environmental ministry said it had sealed off a stream running from 
the pit to the Euphrates as a precaution, adding that no polluting leaks had 
been detected so far.

But the Ilic Nature and Environment Platform, a local pressure group, said 
the stream had already mixed with the Euphrates. 

"Don't seal off (the stream), seal off the mine," the group said. 

Environmental advocates and local officials sought to shut down the open pit 
mine after a 2022 cyanide leak caused by a burst pipe. 

The plant closed for a few months but then re-opened after its operator paid 
a fine, prompting an outcry from Turkey's opposition parties.

A Turkish court then fined the company 16.5 million Turkish liras ($540,000 
at the current exchange rate), the maximum according to Turkish media.

But no further action was taken against the mine and a local push to shut it 
down failed.

The mine is run by private company Anagold, which has been extracting gold in 
the region since 2010.

Eighty percent of Anagold is owned by the Denver-based SSR Mining, and 20 
percent by Lidya Mining.

SSR Mining's stocks sharply fell sharply on Tuesday.