CONAKRY, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Guinea has charged 60 people

with arson, theft and murder after a deadly riot at the

privately-owned Weily Mining firm in the northeastern

gold-producing Siguiri region, prosecutors said on Friday.

Unrest broke out on October 4 after locals demanded the

release of 17 people detained over an earlier vandalism incident

at the same site, Siguiri's public prosecutor Ibrahima I. Camara

said in a statement.

Protesters stormed the mine, torching 10 buses, two pickup

trucks - including one belonging to the gendarmerie - and two

buildings. Two people were killed and several others injured, it

added.

The charges include voluntary arson, destruction of

property, and complicity in murder.

Weily Mining, which said it exported its first gold from the

Niagassola mine in September 2024 did not immediately respond to

a request for comment.

The violence highlights growing tensions in Siguiri, home to

AngloGold Ashanti's ( AU ) multiple open pit gold mines and

plagued by illegal artisanal mining.

Guinea, which holds the world's largest bauxite reserves and

vast iron ore deposits at Simandou, has seen rising unrest at

mining sites amid a regulatory crackdown.

The military junta, in power since 2021, has sought to boost

economic growth by renegotiating mining contracts, accelerating

project development, and increasing state earnings from Guinea's

vast natural resource wealth.

Authorities said investigations into the riot will be

conducted jointly by the police and gendarmerie.