Published: January 6, 2016 |

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Xtract Resources has announced with deep sadness two fatalities occurred at its Chepica gold processing plant on Christmas Eve.

The fatal accidents occurred when an individual who was undergoing training entered a restricted area without the necessary safety equipment; a shift supervisor died while trying to rescue the first individual.

After the relevant authorities were notified of the fatal accidents the Inspector of Mines stopped all work on the mine on December 24, 2015. The Inspector of Mines has now completed an investigation into the fatal accidents and found that neither the mine nor any of its workers were negligent and that no Mine Health and Safety standards or procedures were transgressed.

Following completion of the investigation, underground mining operations will be allowed to recommence on December 29, 2015, with the ore mined being stockpiled. The processing plant will remain closed until certain recommendations from the Inspector of Mines have been implemented in the area where the fatal accident occurred and it is expected that these will take around 15 days to complete and the processing plant is therefore expected to be operational on or around January 12, 2016.

Xtract is in the process of conducting an additional risk assessment on all surface operations and will implement additional safety procedures and standards to that currently in place and required by the Inspector of Mines where deemed necessary.

“Our thoughts and support at this time must be with the families and loved ones of the deceased. The company intends to give all possible support to the families as well as the rest of our work force that have been deeply saddened by this event,” said Jan Nelson.

“This accident comes despite the underground mine still maintaining an impeccable underground safety record. At this time my focus will be to support the executive and management team and our employees through this difficult time to enable us to keep our focus and momentum,” he added.

The company said it would provide a trading update in the coming weeks but indicated that despite the interruption caused by the tragic events it will come close to achieving its financial targets for the quarter.

Source: (December 29, 2015) Proactive Investors

About Xtract Resources
Xtract Resources is a gold and copper exploration and development Company with projects in Chile and South Africa. At Chépica, the management team is focused on creating mining flexibility in order to deliver consistent production, cash flow and profits. At O’Kiep in South Africa, the focus is on the work program in order to carry out drilling and metallurgical test work to confirm the economic potential of this Copper tailings project.

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