Golden Star Resources (NYSE American: GSS; TSX: GSC; GSE: GSR) has said it regrets to report two fatalities at its Prestea Underground Gold Mine in Ghana on 29 December 2017.

In a statement, Golden Star Resources said “initial investigations suggest that the two employees succumbed to smoke inhalation sickness following exposure to blasting gasses.”

The miner said it “suspended” operations at the Prestea Underground “to allow for the initial investigation of the incident, but the mine resumed full operation as of 1 January 2018”.

It said the management of the mine and the Inspector of Mines continue to conduct further investigations.

Sam Coetzer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Golden Star, stated that: "We are deeply saddened by the passing of two of our colleagues. On behalf of us all at Golden Star, and particularly the close-knit team at Prestea, we extend our sincerest condolences to the individuals' families and friends. Safety is our highest priority and we take great care in ensuring that all of our underground team members have self-rescuers and that they are trained to use them correctly. We are conducting further investigations to understand why this tragedy occurred and how to prevent it from happening again."

Golden Star is an established gold mining company that owns and operates the Wassa and Prestea mines situated on the prolific Ashanti Gold Belt in Ghana, West Africa.