By Steve Fiscor
The updates from mining companies related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to flood the inbox at E&MJ. Earlier this week, E&MJ posted a South African report from Editor Gavin du Venage. More recently, AngloGold Ashanti reported they have been working closely with provincial governments of the North West and Gauteng, to make available two hospitals for their exclusive use as part of the frontline COVID-19 effort. These facilities will be used by the authorities for the treatment and isolation of COVID-19 patients.
Mines in the U.S. continue to operate. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has designated mining as critical to U.S. infrastructure. See DHS website for more information.
Yesterday, on its quarterly stakeholders’ call, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration advised all mines to follow the policies issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). A couple of U.S. coal operators announced this week that they were idling portions of their production, which were located east of the Mississippi River.
The Mexican Federal Government joined Peru and South Africa and suspended all non-essential activities for 30 days. The suspension includes all mining activities from March 30 to April 30. Companies operating mines in the region announced they were ramping down operations and placing them on care and maintenance. The Peruvian Government has extended the current state of emergency by an additional 13 days to April 12.
A few more mines were idled in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The precipitous drop in oil prices and COVID-19 served as one-two punch for oil sands operators in Canada. Centerra Gold said it would significantly reduce manpower at its Mount Milligan mine in British Columbia and temporarily reduce mill throughput to 50,000 metric tons per day (mt/d) for a two-week period commencing April 6.
Rio Tinto said this week that most of its assets continue to operate. Acknowledging that COVID-19 is a human tragedy, Rio Tinto Chief Executive J-S Jacques said, “We all have to play our part as the pandemic spreads. We have taken extensive measures across the business to help protect our people and communities, and have increased these as the pandemic spreads, in line with guidance or directives from governments and advice from international health organizations on best practice.”
Rio Tinto has assembled business resilience teams (BRTs) at each site and region, including a global BRT under the leadership of Jacques. The aim of these teams is to keep operations running safely, to enable commercial supply chain continuity, and plan for future eventualities under various scenarios. Critical infrastructure at each of the operations has been assessed with a continuity plan in place, should it be required, the company said.
The company extended its $15 million Royal Flying Doctors partnership to support health for remote communities in Western Australia. To support global grassroots community COVID-19 preparedness and recovery, it has pledged a further $25 million. Rio Tinto continues to look for opportunities to share knowledge of response activities and to partner with others in the industry to find joint solutions to address and aid in the recovery from this global pandemic