The Seabee Gold Mine in Northern Saskatchewan. (SSR Mining - Ron Garnett/AirScapes)
Wildfire

Northern Sask. gold mine evacuated due to approaching wildfire

Aug 22, 2024 | 1:00 PM

A gold mine in Northern Saskatchewan has evacuated most of its workers as an approaching wildfire is threatening the site.

The Seabee Gold Mine, located roughly 125 km northeast of La Ronge, evacuated a total of 191 personnel at the site on Wednesday evening.

As of Thursday morning, the Kraus Fire is roughly 2 km west of the mine. (NASA/FIRMS)

According to a spokesperson with SSR Mining, the company that operates the mine, a care and maintenance team is remaining at the site to look after the assets and equipment.

“The safety of our personnel is our number one concern, which is why we decided to do the precautionary closure and evacuate our site,” they added.

The Kraus Fire was sparked by lightning on Aug. 14 and has since grown to 5,523 hectares in size, or 55.24 square kilometres. According to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), the blaze is labelled as “protecting values.”

The Seabee Gold Mine is one of four production mines that SSR Mining operates globally, with Seabee first beginning operation in 1991.

loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

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