Mining: Randgold staff wary of Ebola

RANDGOLD Resources, which mines gold in Mali, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo, had advised its workers not to travel to areas affected by the deadly Ebola virus as a precaution, it said yesterday. It said contractors had been instructed not to bring any workers from affected areas to the company’s sites. The Ebola outbreak began in February in the forests of Guinea. While the death toll there continues to rise, the epicentre has shifted to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Mali shares a border with Guinea, while Ivory Coast borders Guinea and Liberia. Randgold said that, although its mines were far from affected areas, it had undertaken a “thorough awareness campaign” about the disease for all its workers and continued to monitor the situation. The World Health Organisation said yesterday that the death toll from the outbreak was 932. – Reuters