Forest fires in Canada force miners to stop work

Forest fires are breaking out again in Canada, forcing many miners to temporarily cease operations.

The Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) announced that it has initiated a safe and coordinated temporary closure of its operations in response to the provincial government’s evacuation order for Labrador City.

The order is a result of the extreme fire development that occurred over the weekend and is expected to continue and spread towards Labrador West.

About 9,500 people were reportedly evacuated from Labrador City in the Newfoundland and Labrador region. France 24 It was reported that authorities estimated the speed of the fire to be about 50 meters per minute.

IOC is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) (58.7%), Japan’s largest trading company Mitsubishi Corporation (TYO:8058) (26.2%) and Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Corporation (TSX:LIF) (15.1%).

The Company operates a mine and processing plant in Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador, a port and warehouse in Sept-Iles, Quebec, and a 418-kilometre railway connecting these two operations.

Meanwhile, Champion Iron (TSX:CIA) has also temporarily suspended operations at its Bloom Lake iron ore mine at the southern end of the Labrador Trough, about 13 km north of Fermont, Quebec.

Forest fires are raging north of Bloom Lake. This is an open pit mine with two concentrators that together have a nominal capacity of 15 million tonnes per year and produce 66.2 percent iron ore concentrate.

Labrador City is about 20 km from Bloom Lake.

“With the wildfires now just a few miles from Bloom Lake and the safety of its employees being the top priority, the company has initiated its emergency protocol and is gradually evacuating its workforce,” Says Champion Iron.

“Champion is working with local and regional authorities and has mobilized teams, including firefighters, to mitigate the impact of the wildfires on its infrastructure. The company has also implemented preventive measures to protect higher-risk facilities.”

According to the Canadian government, last year’s wildfire season was the most devastating on record. By early September, more than 6,132 fires had devastated 16.5 million hectares of land.

“To put that in perspective: That is an area larger than Greece and more than twice the size of the 1989 record,” That’s what Natural Resources Canada said.

The wildfires were the result of record high temperatures and widespread drought.

Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au

Images: Getty Images & Natural Resources Canada