ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Police killed one man after illegal miners attacked a mine owned by Ghana’s giant Ashanti company, destroying buildings and cars, a television station reported on Sunday.
The fighting occurred Thursday at Ashanti Goldfields Company Ltd’s Bibiani goldmine in southwestern Ghana, Accra television station TV3 reported.
About 100 armed men, goldminers whose activities have been banned by the government, overran the mine and burnt down several buildings and cars.
The cause of the fighting was not immediately clear.
More than 100 police and military reinforcements were sent to restore order, the station said. Authorities arrested 70 suspects.
Ashanti is Ghana’s largest company and the world’s 11th largest gold producer. It is quoted on the New York, London and Accra stock exchanges.
Bibiani is Ashanti’s second largest gold mine and produced 261,899 ounces (7,424,575 grams) of ore last year. Ghana’s government owns 20 percent of Ashanti, which was on the verge of bankruptcy until the selloff of a Tanzanian mine earlier this month.
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