French miner Eramet says suspends operations in Gabon, shares sink

French miner Eramet, the world's largest producer of high-grade manganese ore thanks to its Moanda mine in Gabon, said on Wednesday that it had suspended all operations in the country following overnight events, sending its shares down 18%.

French miner Eramet, the world's largest producer of high-grade manganese ore thanks to its Moanda mine in Gabon, said on Wednesday that it had suspended all operations in the country following overnight events, sending its shares down 18%. "In view of the events under way in Gabon and as a precautionary measure, the group has activated procedures to ensure the security of its staff and the integrity of its operations...From this morning all Comilog and Setrag operations have been halted and train transport suspended," an Eramet spokesperson told Reuters.

"The group is monitoring in real time how the situation evolves," it said. A group of senior Gabonese military officers appeared on television in the early hours of Wednesday and said they had taken power, after the state election body announced President Ali Bongo had won a third term.

Comilog is a manganese mining unit that is majority owned by Eramet while Setrag is a train transport unit. Eramet is the world’s largest producer of high-grade

manganese ore thanks to its Moanda mine in Gabon, with 7.5 Mt of high-grade ore produced in 2022.

The extracted ore is transformed into manganese alloys, which are essential to the production of carbon steel, particularly for the construction and automotive industries Eramet shares were down 18% at 62.45 euros by 0747 GMT.

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