PHICHIT: About one thousand local residents have already shown interest in working at the Akara Resources gold mine when it reopens soon, six years after it was closed on environmental and health grounds.
The general manager, Warong Saranritthichai, said the plant in tambon Khao Jed Look of Thap Khlo district had been undergoing a major overhaul for almost three months now, and planned to recruit people to fill 166 positions in 11 departments.
Application forms were available from Nov 7 to Nov 16, from the company's office or via its website, Mr Warong said.
Already more than one thousand people, mostly local residents, had requested application forms, which could be submitted from Nov 14-16, he said.
Major qualifications for applicants included a knowledge of mining and a good attitude towards mining. Being a local resident would be an advantage and applicants should not be involved with illicit drugs, he said.
The company was spending more than 500 million baht on upgrading the plant so it could reopen, after its operations were ordered suspended six years ago, he said. Almost all the machinery and building structures had to be repaired.
The work was expected to be completed by the end of this year and the company would then notify the appropriate state agencies it was ready for inspection before applying for permission to restart mining operations. That may take about two weeks, he said.
Successful applicants would be informed when to start work.
Mr Warong said the resumption of gold mining at the site would mean jobs for local people and a boost for the local economy with at least an additional 10 million baht a month in circulation. This would increase as more jobs became available in future, he said.
Residents said local businesses in tambon Khao Jed Look and tambon Taidong in adjoining Phetchabun province, which were near the gold mine, had shown signs of revival over the past 3-4 months after many years in the doldrums. Hundreds of mine workers, engineers and technicians, had already rented housing and dormitory accommodation in the two tambons.
The mine was ordered closed in 2016 by executive decree of the coup-maker's since dissolved National Council for Peace and Order after villagers raised complaints about health and environmental issues.
The dispute over the mine's closure led to international arbitration involving the parent company, Kingsgate Consolidated of Australia, and the government over claims for losses suffered as a result of the suspension of operations.
In January this year Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the company would be allowed to resume mining operations if it complied with stricter requirements.
In September, Industry Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said the government was confident international negotiations to resolve a dispute over the gold mine would be fruitful.
Akara Resources gold mining plant in Phichit. (Photo: Sitthipoj Kebui)