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Posted: 2019-02-15 06:25:05

Posted February 15, 2019 17:25:05

Chinese businesswoman Sally Zou's AusGold Mining Group has been ordered to temporarily shut down its mine in New South Wales after numerous issues at the site.

Key points:

  • AusGold owner Sally Zou is under fire for a number of issues at her gold mine
  • The company could be fined more than $1 million
  • Ms Zou has previously caused controversy because of her business dealings

According to a report by the NSW Resource Regulator released last week, problems identified at the Good Friday Gold Mine included the illegal construction of a dam and the deaths of more than 25 kangaroos at the site.

Ms Zou is a Liberal Party donor, and attracted attention in the lead up to the 2018 South Australian election over a tweet promising more than $1 million to Premier Steven Marshall, a donation that never eventuated.

She was the subject of debate in Federal Parliament, after it was revealed she had set up an organisation called the "Julie Bishop Glorious Foundation", an organisation the former foreign minister said she had never heard of.

Ms Zou has also courted controversy over her business dealings, with revelations late last year that 11 employees from the mine were taking legal action over pay.

In one incident, Ms Zou paid workers in cash after bringing a backpack full of bank notes to a meeting.

The NSW Resource Regulator reported that it had inspected the mine, near Tibooburra, in September last year and found a storage dam had been built that had not been approved.

Inspectors found more than 25 kangaroos had become trapped in the dam and died.

"In addition, an infant kangaroo was observed to be trapped in the slimes and was clearly in distress," the report stated.

"No action was able to be taken to assist the kangaroo due to safety risks."

There was also a lack of a "technically competent person" at the site.

Company could be fined more than $1 million

The report also raised concerns over management at the site, after being told that staff had not been paid for three months and had "either left the company" or had been "laid off".

In the report, AusGold Mining representative Luming Liu said work was being done to restart operations at the site.

"There are not any current operations at Good Friday Mine Site at this moment," he told the regulator.

"Ms Zou is trying her very best to restart this project ASAP in the near future."

His said the company was not aware of an obligation to report the kangaroo deaths.

He explained the company's financial difficulties were "because China implemented significant changes to its foreign exchange control policies earlier this year, which has made it much more difficult and time-consuming to transfer money from China to overseas".

If it does not comply with the regulator's directions, Ms Zou's company could be fined more than $1 million.

The ABC has contacted Ms Zou for a response.

Topics: mining-industry, business-economics-and-finance, mining-rural, broken-hill-2880, tibooburra-2880, adelaide-5000, sa, nsw

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