Search operations are proceeding around the clock
On the morning of June 9, 2017, a flooding event occurred at the Mandalay Resources Corporation’s Cerro Bayo mine in Chile Chico, Chile in which the Delia 2 ramp section of the Delia NW mine was completely inundated.
Surface and underground operations at Cerro Bayo were suspended in a safe and orderly manner immediately after the incident occurred. Search operations are proceeding around the clock with approximately 100 to 120 people on day shift and 50 to 60 on night shift. The Company had begun constructing a containment berm across a bay of Laguna Verde in an attempt to isolate the incident zone from the larger lake and manage possible further water inflows, however as of late June 14, construction of the berm has been suspended for ground control and safety reasons.
Search efforts continue to be focused on drilling to intersect the deepest level of the mine, approximately 200 metres below surface (where the miners were working), to test the extent to which inundation of that level has occurred. The Company reports that it has drilled two separate holes that have intercepted the level in which the two miners were working. Drilling results indicated that the level was full of mud and sediment material.
