Expert report on the disaster in İliç, Erzincan revealed: Company found guilty, top executive found blameless!

Following the landslide that occurred on February 13 at the mining site operated by Anagold Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. in the İliç district of Erzincan, 9 workers were left trapped under the debris.

The expert report regarding the disaster has been revealed. The report states that the company took no precautions at the heap leach site, leading to serious pollution of the soil, air, and groundwater. Consequently, Anagold Madencilik was found primarily at fault. In addition to this, the expert report also found company executives Jain Roland Guille (Canadian), Kenan Özdemir, Abdülkadir Cansız, Özgür Kaya, İzzet Tekin, and Mehmet Türk, as well as 5 engineers responsible for the site, to be 'primarily at fault.' However, it was decided that subcontractors and Anagold Country Manager Cengiz Yalçın Demirci had no responsibility in the incident.

'NO PRECAUTIONS TAKEN'

According to a report by Bahadır Özgür from Gazete Duvar, the expert report stated the following regarding the responsibility of Anagold Madencilik:

"Because no precautions were taken regarding the soil containing solution that slid at the heap leach site, and because it flowed into a dry creek bed open to pollution and contamination, causing air pollution due to the gas formed during the landslide, and because it would lead to soil pollution as well as surface and groundwater pollution by flowing into the Sabırlı Creek, for which no precautions had been taken previously, and because the company acted in violation of the legislation formed by the regulations based on Environmental Law No. 2872 and the Law on Groundwater No. 167 in the EIA report, and failed to comply with the commitments it made, Anagold Madencilik is primarily at fault for committing the 'crime of intentional or negligent pollution of the environment.'"

'MANAGER HAS NO AUTHORITY'

The following statements were used in the expert report regarding Anagold Madencilik Country Manager Cengiz Yalçın Demirci, who came to Turkey after the incident, was released after being detained for a short time, and shifted all responsibility onto the engineers and lower-level managers in the field in his statement:

“It has been determined that he reported financial matters belonging to Anagold Madencilik AŞ to higher authorities, SSR Mining senior executives, and Çalık Holding senior executives, and provided coordination regarding this, that he had no technical authority, and that he was not at fault in the accident that occurred.”