BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) -- Toronto-based Centerra Gold says a strike at its key gold mine in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan has halted almost all its operations.
The company said in a statement Wednesday that its deems the work stoppage at Kumtor mine, which has entered its ninth day, to be illegal.
Workers are demanding to be reimbursed for salary deductions made by Centerra to the state social fund.
Kumtor accounts for almost 12 percent of the economy in this former Soviet nation on China's western border and has been at the center of several industrial and environmental disputes.
Centerra produced 585,000 ounces of gold last year at the mine, which accounts for the bulk of the company's global output.
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