At the weekend, Bangladesh security forces fired on protesters rallying against the development of the mine, which will displace a number of people over its 40-year mine life.

McCloskey’s Newswire cited Asia Energy director and former managing director David Lenigas as saying the incident left between five and eight people dead and around 50 injured.

Asia Energy staff were not involved in the incident.

Lenigas said while protests had been regularly taking place at the project since development began, they had escalated in the face of an upcoming general election.

“There are a number of groups that protest because they want a political platform,” the newswire quoted Lenigas as saying.

The protesters, said Lenigas, consisted of 50 people from the local community and 1500 from the capital, Dhaka.

“They brought rent-a-crowd up and they were marching down the main street and came towards the bridge. The police said they couldn’t walk across it, so they walked across the dry river bed,” Lenigas was quoted as saying.

After protesters began throwing sticks and stones, the police reportedly sought permission to use live ammunition.

“The police fired warning shots … They opened fire at leg level, intending to create a bit of pain … People duck and all of a sudden they [the shots] are not at leg level,” Lenigas said.

In a statement released by Asia Energy overnight, chief executive Steve Bywater said that while field operations in and around Phulbari had been suspended, the company remained in close communication with both central and local government authorities.

“We are continuing to work positively with the Government of Bangladesh to make this project a success,” Bywater said.

“The Government has assured us that it remains committed to the project.”

Bywater said the $US1 billion ($A1.3 billion) coal operation would bring major economic benefits to the northwest region of Bangladesh and the country as a whole.