Barrick furloughs some employees at Congo mine as Ebola precaution, memo says

Nov 12 (Reuters) – Barrick Mining is furloughing some employees and subcontractors at its Kibali gold mine in Democratic Republic of Congo after ​officials reported two Ebola deaths in a ‌nearby community, according to an internal company memo seen by Reuters on Thursday. • The memo, signed by Acting General Manager Jean Marc Badibanga and dated Thursday, said the deaths had ‌been ​confirmed by Congo’s National Institute ⁠of Biomedical Research and ⁠that Barrick was working to confirm “whether there are any links to our workforce” • The furloughs would affect employees and subcontractors “whose presence is not essential” ​and those people would be informed directly, the memo said, without providing a figure • Employees ⁠feeling unwell are instructed not ⁠to report to work and to ​contact company medical staff immediately, the memo said • Toronto-listed ​Barrick did not immediately respond to a request ‌for comment on Thursday • Barrick said last May it had increased Ebola precautions at the Kibali gold mine in Haut-Uele province • Kibali, jointly owned by Barrick ⁠and AngloGold Ashanti with 45% each, and 10% by Congo state miner SOKIMO, is one of Africa’s largest ⁠gold mines • Congo’s ‌Ebola outbreak, the second-largest on record, ⁠has infected more than 11,000 people ​and ‌killed more than 5,000 people, according ​to government data • ⁠There have been no Ebola cases at industrial mines but the outbreak has affected artisanal operations (Reporting by Fiston Mahamba; Additional reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Writing by Amindeh Blaise Atabong; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and ​Jonathan Spicer )