Human rights groups...welcomed a decision by Thailand to close the country's only active gold mine by the end of the year as the mine's operator said it had laid off the employees.

Thailand's ruling junta...said it is suspending all gold mining operations in the country from Jan. 1 "due to its impact on locals and the environment." The junta invoked Article 44 of the interim constitution which makes any action it takes final.

No new licenses for mining would be issued, it said.

In May, Thailand said it would shutter the country's only gold mine after the government said environmental concerns outweighed the economic benefits of the Chatree mine, located 280 km (174 miles) north of the capital Bangkok.

A military government investigation team in January 2015 said more than 300 people tested positive for arsenic and manganese at Chatree, which is run by Akara Resources Public Company Limited, a subsidiary of Australia's Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd...