Québec’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests modified its ban on forest access and closed roads over a large part of Québec due to forest fires. The closure affected the access road to Hecla Mining’s Casa Berardi mine site. Hecla has temporarily suspended operations at the Casa Berardi mine. The company said all mine personnel are safe, and the infrastructure has not been impacted.
Forest fires north of Sept-Îles, Québec, impacted a railway that Champion Iron uses to transport high-purity iron ore concentrate from its Bloom Lake mine to the port of Sept-Îles.
The forest fires first emerged during late May approximately 300 km south of Bloom Lake. Champion`s facilities have suffered no damage and the company said it is not aware of any significant damages to the railway or third-party infrastructure, and accordingly, expects services to resume in the near-term. While interruptions of the railway and the main access road may impact the supply chain required to maintain a complete operational capacity at Bloom Lake, the company has significant onsite iron ore concentrate stockpiling capacity, mitigating the impact on its operations.
