[Update] Authorities tame Kirkland Lake, Timmins forest fires

VANCOUVER — Raging forest fires attributed to irresponsible campers near the towns of Kirkland Lake and Timmins in northeastern Ontario forced residents from their homes, and impacted four regional gold operations, as fire crews and the Ministry of Natural Resources wrestled with the seasonal blaze for over a week.

Authorities evacuated 300 people from homes and cottages located in the Goodfish and Nettle Lake areas near Kirkland Lake on May 22, as provincial police closed highway 144 southwest of Timmins and limited westbound traffic on highway 101.

A fire within 30 km of Timmins forced the town of 43,000 residents to declare a state of emergency late May 24, leading to the evacuation of 225 people from outlying communities.

“We have a fire that’s out of control. It’s the biggest fire in Ontario so we are on guard, that’s for sure,” Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren told CTV News.

Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources reported late May 24 that the Timmins fire was exhibiting “extreme behaviour” due to strong winds. Fires near Kirkland Lake were partially subdued, though a number of dangerous “hot spots” continued to cause concern.

The area has a long history of gold mining, with the Kirkland Lake-Timmins region now home to four active gold operations.

AuRico Gold (AUQ-T, AUQ-N) operates its Young-Davidson mine 70 km west of Kirkland Lake, while Kirkland Lake Gold’s (KGI-T) flagship Macassa facilities lie on the western edge of the township.

Brigus Gold‘s (BRD-T, BRD-X) Black Fox mine is roughly 30 km east of Timmins, and Lake Shore Gold (LSG-T) operates the Timmins West mine 18 km east of the town.

AuRico announced on May 21 that a power disruption at Young-Davidson had impacted its operations.

A fire passed roughly 70 km east of AuRico’s mine site, and reportedly damaged several power poles feeding its main 115-kilovolt (kV) power supply. The company relied on an unaffected 44-kV construction line, as Ontario Hydro One attempted to restore full service. AuRico reported no adverse affects to its open-pit operations, which continue at normal levels, but ore processing was suspended due to a mill shut down.

The company expects Young-Davidson to hit commercial production in the third quarter, with 2012 production guidances between 65,000 and 75,000 oz. gold at average costs of $450 to $550 per oz. The mine poured first gold at the end of April, and its mill has exceeded operating expectations with a throughput rate of 5,300 tonnes per day through the first two weeks of May.

On May 24 Brigus’ Black Fox mill was also hit by power interruptions that suspended milling operations and gold production. The company reported no damage to its infrastructure, and continued stockpiling ore for processing. Despite the temporary suspension of milling operations, Brigus remains confident it will meet its second-quarter production target of 18,000 to 21,000 oz. gold, and will release production numbers for the quarter in early July.

“As always, the health and safety of our employees is our top priority and we are taking every step to ensure no one is at risk. Our thoughts go out to all those who have been affected,” said Wade Dawe, president and CEO of Brigus.

Kirkland Lake Gold suspended production activities at its Macassa gold mine on May 21. The fire reportedly passed close to the company’s property and mill, though no infrastructure was affected outside of a power line feeding the mill and damages to its three-shaft complex. Kirkland subsequently closed down mining operations and evacuated its facilities, leaving behind a skeleton crew “to keep the site secure, monitor the situation and assist government and utility efforts as required.”

Kirkland’s regional gold operations have throughput levels of 1,450 tonnes per day, and the company expects its mine to produce between 105,000 and 200,000 oz. gold this year. Kirkland is also undergoing a US$20-million expansion program that could increase milling capacity to 2,200 tonnes per day and pump up gold production to 250,000 to 300,000 oz. per year by 2014.

The company released an update on May 23, indicating that operations would be down for at least a week, citing May 30 as the earliest date it expects production workers back on the job.

Kirkland took the unexpected shutdown in stride, using the production delay to complete maintenance and project work that require electrical shutdowns, including a priority three-day hoist motor maintenance job.

Lake Shore’s Timmins West operations were suspended on May 24 following smoke exposure on-site caused by high winds in the area. All surface and exploration work were put on hold, though Lake Shore maintains a stockpile of 16,000 tonnes of ore for processing, which represents roughly eight days of production. The company reports another 6,000 tonnes of ore on surface at Timmins West, and 35,000 tonnes of low-grade material at its mill.

“In terms of production, with the large stockpile we have at the mill we expect there to be no impact on our processing activities,” comments president and CEO Tony Makuch. “Our production guidance for the second quarter and full-year 2012 remain unchanged.”

Help arrived from other jurisdictions late May 24, as 80 firefighters and an incident management team from B.C. took control, and additional water bombers from Newfoundland and Manitoba were mobilized.

Cooler temperatures and steady rain through Sunday helped authorities tame the blaze. The state of emergency was lifted in Timmins on May 28, with Kirkland Lake following suit a day later. The status of the fire was downgraded to “being held”, as fire crews contained the 10-km-long blaze early in the week.

According to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources website nearly 50 fires were contained or extinguished over the weekend, with 27 active fires still burning in the province and five listed as “not under control”.

“As the rain increases, we’ll shift from value protection to installing control lines around the fire,” Garry Harland, the ministry’s fire operations supervisor, told The Globe and Mail.

Production resumed at Lake Shore’s Timmins West mine and Brigus’ Black Fox mill on May 27, while AuRico announced on May 29 that full power had been restored at Young-Davidson, with ore processing activities to start-up shortly. Kirkland Lake expects production to resume at its Macassa mine and mill by May 31.