Explorer pulls staff as Flin Flon orders evacuation

Amid a province-wide state of emergency, Flin Flon, Man. has ordered residents and visitors to evacuate as wildfires approach the city while Canadian Gold (TSXV: CGC) has suspended local operations and withdrawn staff, and Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE: HBM) has reduced staffing at its Snow Lake mine east of Flin Flon. 

A fire classified as out of control was burning north of the city with a population of 6,000 at mid-Wednesday, according to the Manitoba government’s online FireView map. A larger out-of-control fire is burning about 75 km northeast of Flin Flon. The area is about 750 km northwest of Winnipeg near the Saskatchewan border.

“All residents and visitors must evacuate the community,” the City of Flin Flon said in a Facebook message on Wednesday in early evening. “Everyone who is able to arrange their own transportation is advised to leave town as soon as possible, in a calm and orderly manner.” 

Just hours later, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said the state of emergency would involve the evacuation of about 17,000 people across the province. 

“This is the largest evacuation Manitoba will have seen in most people’s living memory,” he said during a news conference.

Prime Minister Mark Carney had accepted Manitoba’s request to send in the Canadian military for assistance, Kinew added.

Credit: Manitoba Government

The province is experiencing its worst fire season in years, with 18 active fires all begun in the last month in different regions. Coping with the widespread fires is stretching resources when Manitoba can usually divert firefighting equipment from unaffected areas, Kinew said earlier on Wednesday. Hundreds of people fleeing the fires have filled the province’s hotels and the premier appealed to communities and businesses to help house more.

Also active in the Flin Flon area is Callinex Mines (TSXV: CNX; US-OTC: CLLXF), which says its site isn’t affected as it was spared because of past nearby blazes.

CGC pauses work

Canadian Gold said it had withdrawn staff from the Tartan site as it continues to monitor its facilities in the area. 

“All personnel are safe, and the Tartan facilities are secure,” Canadian Gold CEO Michael Switsun said in a release on Wednesday. “While all activities at the site are currently suspended, we remain hopeful that the nearby forest fire activity will not have any material impact on our Phase 4 drilling program.”

The company has a 2017 resource for the past-producing Tartan mine, about 12 km northeast of Flin Flon.

“Our Pine Bay camp was impacted by last year’s fire and therefore the current fire will have little impact on the ground,” Max Porterfield, CEO of Callinex, told The Northern Miner by email. The Pine Bay copper-zinc-gold project is about 16 km east of Flin Flon.

Hudbay has reduced staffing levels at its Snow Lake gold-zinc-copper mine 200 km east of Flin Flon, where a significant number of its workforce lives, said Karina Subota, spokesperson with media relations firm Proof Strategies. 

“We remain committed to maintaining a safe working environment and will continue to actively monitor this developing situation,” she said. “We expect there will temporarily reduced production levels in Snow Lake in the short-term, but with the strong performance in Snow Lake year-to-date, we continue to be well-positioned to achieve our annual guidance metrics for 2025.”

The company is securing additional accommodations in Snow Lake for evacuated staff and their families and has deployed emergency personnel to help with firefighting efforts, she added. 

Subota didn’t immediately comment on three gold and copper projects that Hudbay holds near Flin Flon in a partnership with Japanese group Marubeni. 

Alamos helps

The alert in Flin Flon comes a day after Lynn Lake, about 235 km north of Flin Flon, evacuated residents and visitors as fires burned about 6 km north of the town.

Alamos Gold (TSX, NYSE: AGI), which has an exploration project in that area, said it had paused operations, evacuated most of its staff and was offering assistance to the Manitoba Fire Service. 

“Alamos has prepared a tonne of food that they’re putting out the door to help people with the wildfire response,” Kinew said. “They’ve already transported people by bus, and they’ve made the offer to make planes available. It’s good to see that businesses are stepping up.”

Some 4,000 people have been evacuated from communities in northern Saskatchewan, including from towns such as Pelican Narrows, Hall Lake, Canoe Lake and Candle Lake.