Bosai Minerals Guyana yesterday suspended all mining operations to ensure that the search and rescue operation for bulldozer operator, Neptrid Hercules can continue without interruption.
Bosai’s decision followed on the heels of a high-level visit to the company yesterday which included Prime Minister, Mark Phillips; Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill; and Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat. Bosai Minerals Group Guyana Inc also released a statement to the press detailing the sequence of events that resulted in the tragic incident.
According to the release, the incident occurred at 4 am on Saturday in the East Montgomery Mine. The release added that Hercules worked the night shift on Friday March 10, 2023, operating a CAT D9T Dozer on an overburden dump which suffered a failure resulting in the Dozer and Hercules being covered by overburden material.
Recovery efforts were launched on Saturday with the deployment of two hydraulic excavators, manual probing using steel rods and a number of metal detectors. Hercules’ immediate family was informed by Bosai Management and brought to the site. Simultaneously, relevant agencies were informed, including the Ministry of Labour, the Guyana Geo-logy and Mines Commission [GGMC] and the Guyana Police Force. The release added that efforts to locate Hercules on Saturday proved futile, and technical assistance was sought from the GGMC that day. On Sunday, the release stated that the GGMC supplied a Magnetometer along with technical staff to assist in the search operation.
Orin Barnwell, an employee of Bosai Minerals, told media personnel during the visit by the Prime Minister and Ministerial team, that following the incident, a manual probe was launched with the use of steel rods to locate the machine but it was unsuccessful. Hydraulic excavators were then brought into the rescue operation in collaboration with metal detectors to scan the area; this too proved futile. GGMC was then engaged and agreed to supply a more sophisticated device, a Magneto-meter, with the capability of detecting metal below ground. On Sunday, the Magnetometer registered signals indicating the presence of a magnitude of metal mass. According to Bosai’s release, the metal mass was measured at approximately 15 meters below the surface. Bosai was then advised to dispatch excavators to open the area properly so that the metal mass can be accessed, Barnwell stated.
Meanwhile, Edghill stated that the aim of the investigation launched by the Ministry of Labour’s Occupation Safety and Health department is to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident. He said that, “What is clear is that BOSAI has suspended all operations in the mines and all the manpower that is available are onsite, this is to ensure that the search and rescue remains on-going without interruptions. Secondly, it is still an active search and rescue operation and we need to emphasize that and we have communicated that to the family.”
PM Phillips, in extending his support to the family, assured them that as they remain on site during the operation, information will be provided as the process progresses. On Sunday afternoon, Her-cules’ family and residents had launched protest actions directed at Bosai’s office demanding that the Chinese bauxite company cease all mining operations and instead focus on the search and rescue efforts for Hercules. During a live stream video by Member of Parliament, Jermaine Figueria, residents could be heard chanting, “No Tear-up (Hercules’ alias) no work.”
