Progress Report on Caijiaying Operations
Further to the announcements of the 9th August 2010 and the 16th August 2010, Griffin Mining Ltd (“Griffin” or the “Company”) continues to await the definitive written report and comments from the investigatory committee into the fatalities at the Caijiaying zinc gold mine, as required by Chinese legal regulations. Although the publication of the report is expected imminently, until the report is presented and its recommendations implemented, mining operations at Caijiaying remain suspended. In the interim, to keep overhead costs to a minimum, staff at Caijiaying have been demobilised on reduced pay until the recommencement of all mining and processing operations.
The Company has also been notified that in order for the People’s Republic of China to meet certain global warming targets agreed at the Copenhagen Summit, certain provinces have been ordered to begin rationing or shutting down power to both industrial and domestic users. Hebei Province, in which the Caijiaying zinc gold mine is located, is one such province. Consequently, electricity supplies to all mines in the Zhangjiakou prefecture are being suspended and electricity to all residential properties restricted. No announcement has been made as to when these restrictions will be lifted although it is unlikely that this will be a long term policy.