Archive | Canada Mining

https://nationalpost.com/

René Galipeau is just a few days shy of his 75th birthday, an age, his doctors believed, he would never live to see. Galipeau was diagnosed with cancer — for the first time — 28 years ago, a late-stage lymphoma he beat with the help of a bone marrow transplant from his identical twin, Roland.

He has since been diagnosed with skin cancer, bladder cancer and prostate cancer, a triple dose of bad news, all received at different points in his life, that he has likewise survived. About 18 months ago, the Toronto mining executive met with cancer specialists, yet again. This time they said he was a true goner. He had a brain tumour. He was given eight months to live, at best.

Galipeau registered the grim prognosis and got on with his life. “I shouldn’t have been here past last summer,” he says, chuckling. “Nobody knows why I am still here, but here I am, and I am doing fine. It’s black humour, you know. Really, I have to laugh, because if you can’t laugh at it what else can you do?” Continue Reading →

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canadian mining companies are paring back operations, quarantining workers, and putting development projects on hold, in the midst of widespread travel restrictions and lockdowns as COVID-19 spreads around the world.

Toronto-based New Gold Inc. said on Friday it has suspended mining at a northwestern Ontario mine near the U.S. border to minimize the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus. About 70 per cent of the workforce at its Rainy River mine is local and employees routinely go back and forth to Minnesota. Many mine workers have already been self-isolating for some time due to the heightened risk brought on by cross-border travel.

The entire 800-plus workforce at Kinross Gold Corp.’s Kupol gold mine in Russia remain in isolation, even after two workers suspected of having COVID-19 tested negative. The senior gold miner started isolating employees at the remote mine in the country’s far east last Saturday after the two individuals got sick and were hospitalized. Continue Reading →

https://business.financialpost.com/

As the race to contain the spread of coronavirus reaches a sprint in many parts of the world, the mining sector is still grappling with the best way to deal with a situation that has left it few easy choices. So far, operations at many mines have moved forward, often largely unaffected.

But there are signs that trouble is brewing. On Tuesday morning, for example, Ricus Grimbeek, chief executive of Vancouver-based Trevali Mining Corp. learned that in Peru — where his company operates an underground zinc mine — the government planned to lockdown the country essentially by restricting all non-emergency travel.

The situation posed an obvious dilemma for Grimbeek, and other mining companies in the country, for many reasons, including that most mines need time to change directions. Putting a mine on care and maintenance requires personnel to work, and there could be environmental damage and high expenses involved. Continue Reading →

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

First, office workers and bartenders were sent home. Now, the cogs of Canadian industry are slowly grinding down as major companies curb operations to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Firms like Vale SA are idling some operations while Canadian oil sands producers Syncrude Canada Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. are delaying maintenance work as coronavirus cases rise across Canada. Growth forecasts that were already revised lower amid the pandemic and tumbling oil prices are being cut again. Economists expect the virus will spur a recession with few industries left untouched.

“It looks like it’s going to be a broad-based economic downturn rather than companies being hit on their supply chains,” said Robert Hogue, senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada. “I’m pressed to think of any sectors that will be unscathed.” Continue Reading →

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

Mining companies operating in Canada are taking measures to protect employees in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. As the novel coronavirus has spread to over 140 countries, companies such as Agnico Eagle Mines and Vale are using different strategies to protect their workers and operations as the situation unfolds.

According to Nunatsiaq News, Agnico Eagle Mines created a new senior management task force to work on response measures to the pandemic, and will be adopting more cleaning, medical care and isolation measures at its mine sites.

In addition, the company is implementing its existing pandemic plan in response to COVID-19. As part of the plan, which was developed following the SARS and H1N1 outbreaks, the company will begin screening employees for the virus at its Nunavut mines in Rankin Inlet and Baker Lake and its Quebec mines in Mirabel and Val d’Or. How companies will accommodate workers it sends home for suspected symptoms of the virus, such as a cough or sore throat, remains uncertain. Continue Reading →

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Like many large Canadian mining companies, Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. is taking precautionary steps in the face of the global spread of the novel coronavirus.

At its Constancia copper mine in Peru, all of its workers are being screened for any sign of the virus, with their temperatures being taken upon entry to the site. In the event of someone contracting the virus, the company has isolation facilities in place, and ambulances on standby.

Back at the Toronto head office, the IT department recently did extensive testing to ensure that people can work from home if need be. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Peter Kukielski, chief executive officer of Hudbay. Continue Reading →