OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Operations by the Chinese gold mining company Kaidi have been blocked by hundreds of protesters in Kyrgyzstan's southern Chon-Alai district.



Authorities in Osh Province sent at least 150 police officers to the district on May 16 to prevent unrest.



District council deputy Kasymbek Abdyldaev told RFE/RL that local authorities decided to suspend Kaidi's operations again in the district.



The company had just resumed its activities on May 16 after they had been suspended last August because of protests against the presence of foreign companies in the nation's mineral resources sector.



Similar protests last year and this year led to the Kyrgyz parliament's decision to renegotiate the terms of a 2009 financial agreement with the Toronto-based Centerra Gold Company with respect to the Kumtor golden mine in Kyrgyzstan's north.



With reporting by Interfax

RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service is an award-winning, multimedia source of independent news and informed debate, covering major stories and underreported topics, including women, minority rights, high-level corruption, and religious radicalism. webteam@rferl.org Subscribe via RSS