South African authorities have pulled at least 60 bodies from the shaft of a closed gold mine more than 2 km (1.2 miles) underground where an unknown number of men are still feared trapped, following a siege in a crackdown on illegal mining.

Arguing that the miners had entered the mine without permission, authorities reportedly cracked down by cutting off their access to food and water.

The South African government has launched a rescue operation at an abandoned gold mine in the country’s North West province, where at least 109 men have died, a group representing the miners said, after local authorities cut off vital supplies in a dramatic bid to crack down on the country’s illegal mining trade.

Canada’s Barrick Gold has suspended operations in Mali after the government seized gold from the company in an escalation of a dispute between the military junta and international mining groups. The Toronto and New York-listed company said in a statement that it had “regrettably initiated the temporary suspension of operations” at its Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex in the west African country.

Canada's Barrick Gold on Tuesday confirmed it had suspended operations in Mali and that the government had moved gold stock from the miner's Loulo-Gounkoto site to a bank. Reuters reported on Monday that the authorities had seized gold worth $245 million in an escalation of their long-running dispute with the company.