Goldplat has suspended operations at its gold recovery plant in Ghana for a second time, after a new investigation opened into the death of a contractor at the site last week.

The AIM-listed mining services group said on Tuesday that a second investigation at its Ghana site had commenced, with operations currently suspended while that investigation remains ongoing. The company said it expected to provide a further update by the end of the week and did not expect any impact on its financial performance.

Contractor died in trench collapse

The contractor died on 5 November, when a wall gave way in a trench he was helping to construct with colleagues at the Ghana site. Goldplat said it had notified the relevant authorities, was cooperating with them, and had opened its own internal safety investigation.

Operations at the plant were first suspended for initial investigations after the accident, then allowed to resume following an inspection. The latest announcement means the site has now halted work again while the second investigation runs.

Goldplat operates gold recovery operations in Ghana and South Africa, serving mining companies in Africa and South America. The company said the suspension was a precaution while investigators establish the circumstances of the accident, and it will update shareholders once the investigation has progressed, according to its stock exchange announcement. The death was also reported by the Investors' Chronicle.