'Deeply-rooted flaw' caused Çöpler mine Incident

An independent review finds a flaw in the 'third-party engineered design of the heap leach pad' as the most likely cause of the heap leach failure at Çöpler gold mine in Türkiye last year.

On 13 February 2024, a significant slip occurred on the Çöpler heap leach pad.

As of 10 June 2024, all nine of the individuals who were lost because of the incident have been recovered.

SSR Mining commissioned Call and Nicholas Inc (CNI), an international mining consulting firm, to conduct an independent review of the incident. SSR Mining was the major shareholder in the mining operation.

The review found that, in the third-party engineered design, the assessment of test data overestimated the shear strength properties of the liner system at the base of the heap leach. This inflated the calculated factor of safety values in the third-party engineered design.

Therefore, the error resulted in insufficient shear strength along the liner interface to support the as-designed heap leach facility.

CNI also determined that, in all material respects, the heap leach pad construction and operation was carried out in conformance with the issued-for-construction engineered design parameters.

Additionally, CNI’s review did not find any substantiation that excess water, ground vibrations from blasting, nor stacking beyond the design caused the event.

Rod Antal, Executive Chairman of SSR Mining, comments, 'The independent expert review of the Çöpler Incident has been an important body of work for the Company to determine the cause of the Çöpler Incident. Knowing now that the failure was the result of an engineering design flaw, and not the result of a failure in our operation or construction of the pad, provides clarity and some reassurance to the team on the ground as we seek to restart the Çöpler mine.

'We remain deeply saddened by the profound impact of this tragedy and we remain committed to Çöpler, the local communities and Türkiye.'

SSR Mining continues to work closely with the relevant authorities to advance the required permits to restart the Çöpler mine.

At this time, the company is not able to estimate or predict when and under what conditions operations will resume at Çöpler.