Trevali Mining Corp. is confirming reports that two executives have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Burkina Faso in the wake of a flooding disaster at the company’s Perkoa Mine.
The Vancouver-based miner issued a statement Thursday thanking local communities and Perkoa employees who attended a Burkina Faso court to hear the verdicts Wednesday.
Perkoa mine manager Hein Frey, who is South African and worked for Trevali, received a 24-month suspended sentence. Daryl Christensen, who is South African and a manager with Trevali’s contractor Byrnecut, received a 12-month suspended sentence.
The Perkoa Mine, located roughly 120 km from the capital of Ouagadougou, flooded with heavy and unseasonable rainfall on April 16. About 125 mm fell within an hour, overcoming the two berms that surrounded the open pit.
Eight workers were killed. Six of their bodies were recovered by search teams in May, and the other two were found in June up to 670 metres below the ground.
Trevali says it has worked closely with authorities in Burkina Faso to investigate the causes of the flood, and is working to receive approvals to restart the mine. While that investigation unfolded, the West African nation had imposed temporary travel restrictions on some of Trevali’s foreign employees.
Jason Mercier, director of Trevali’s investor relations, has previously told Global News that flood mitigation plans were in place at the Perkoa Mine, which has not experienced any comparable flash flooding event since the operation began in 2013.
According to Mercier, in conjunction with its mining contractor, the families of the workers killed have been offered both financial and mental health support. The workers will not be publicly identified out of respect for their families, he added.
Trevali owns 90 per cent of the Perkoa Mine, 90 per cent of the Rosh Pinah Mine in Namibia, and all of the Caribou Mine in northern New Brunswick. It also has a 44 per cent interest in the Gergarub Project in Namibia.
According to its website, the bulk of its revenue is generated from zinc and lead.
With files from Global News’ Elizabeth McSheffrey