A body has been recovered from the site of a landslide at a gold mine in the Solomon Islands, officials have confirmed.

The discovery was made on Tuesday, a day after the incident occurred at an open-pit mine on Guadalcanal, the largest island in the South Pacific nation.

Police stated that it remains unclear if further individuals are buried, and search operations are continuing at the location.

The landslide stretched for 100 metres (328 feet) along an access road leading to the mine pit, according to the police statement.

The cause of the collapse is currently unknown, Prime Minister Matthew Wale told reporters on Monday.

Mr Wale expressed the government's concern, stating: "Of interest to the government, of course, is to find out whether this was a result of poor mining practices and perhaps the need to strengthen regulations."

At the time of his initial comments, no fatalities or missing persons had been confirmed.

The mine’s owners, Wanguo Gold Group Ltd, said in a statement Monday that none of their employees were hurt or missing and no mining equipment was damaged. Operations at the mine had resumed, the statement said.

The man killed was named by police as Ashley Olo, but officials didn't specify if he was a mine worker. Olo's body was returned to his family, said police Acting Commissioner James Aitorea.

According to local news outlets, some families reported people as missing who were not employees of the mine but so-called informal miners operating there. Local reports said the site has attracted controversy before, when local landowners and illegal miners clashed with law enforcement.

The site, near the capital Honiara, is the country's only large-scale gold mine. Operated by Gold Ridge Mining Limited, the mine has since 2019 been majority-owned by the Hong Kong-listed, Chinese-headquartered firm Wanguo Gold Group, with local landowners holding a small stake, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

It was previously owned by an Australian company, which sold the mine in 2015 because of fears it was unsafe in flooding and other natural disasters.