The Montreal-headquartered company reported Friday a bus transporting employees from the town of Bobo-Dioulasso to the Mana mine was shot at by armed bandits. A resultant fire exchange between armed police and the outlaws killed one local SEMAFO employee and one sub-contractor.
Operations at the Mana mine, some 80km from the incident, were unaffected.
Earlier this week, SEMAFO said an armed incident on the road between the town of Fada and the Boungou mine, in the Est region, had left five armed police officers and one mining contractor dead.
SEMAFO said this latest incident and the Est region incident were unrelated. However, the corporation will be increasing its security measures at Mana and take "appropriate steps" to ensure the safety of the mine and of its employees.
The World Health Organisation has noted Burkina Faso for its high homicide rate, while successive international media reports chronicle rising religious extremism in the country as a rising threat to geopolitical stability.
News of the incident Friday did not result in the same reaction seen Monday, when investors dropped the stock to see it close 7% lower. The stock on Friday remained stable at C$2.93 a share, but the company valuation was down C$66 million since Monday at C$954 million.
