Protesters at gold miner AngloGold Ashanti's Siguiri mine in Guinea have caused minor disruptions to production by blocking workers from entering the site, the firm said on Monday. Villagers close to the project in the West African country are demanding the company supply them with electricity. "There have been some minor disruptions to production because some buses that were transporting workers this morning were prevented by the demonstrators from getting to the mine," AngloGold's Johannesburg-based spokesman Alan Fine said. "Production was affected to the extent that we were short-staffed at the mine ... but overall the mine is still operating." The world's third biggest gold miner produced 333,000 ounces of the precious metal at Siguiri in 2008, making it Guinea's biggest gold project. "(Demonstrators) blocked the route that leads to the plant, to demand that the company provides electricity to the villagers," said a Siguiri resident. Power supply to the town has been disrupted, a problem AngloGold has offered to help fix, but there has been a delay of about two weeks doing this, the firm said. Mining firms in Guinea, where UC RUSAL and Rio Tinto among others also have large projects, are often targeted by villagers angry about poor provision of electricity and clean water. Guinea's ruling military junta, which has been condemned internationally for the killing of 157 people at an opposition rally last week, is locked in disputes with RUSAL and Rio. Its leadership has in the past singled out mining firms and their executives for public criticism.

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