Hudbay has shut down operations at its Constancia mine in Peru and is taking special measures at Manitoba facilities in response to COVID-19 hitting the country.
The company announced what it described as a “temporary and orderly shutdown of operations at Constancia” after Peru’s government declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19 rates rising within the country. The country has currently reported 234 cases of the disease, with 89 new cases reported March 19.
The Peruvian government has issued a decree for all non-essential businesses to shut down for 15 days, adding that some mining operations could continue during the shutdown. Hudbay receives some key supplies for operating the mine from the port of Matarani, which is also the site where concentrate from Constancia is shipped out.
“The company has been actively managing the situation and the Constancia mine continued to operate and concentrate transportation activities continued this week, including a vessel that completed loading yesterday at the port of Matarani,” said a Hudbay press release issued March 20
“However, the state of emergency has rapidly changed the environment, causing the manufacturing and transport of critical supplies to be suspended. As such, with the limited availability of certain critical mining supplies, the company has initiated a temporary and orderly shutdown of operations at Constancia.”
The shutdown is estimated to take about three days to fully implement. Numbers of workers will decline but a small crew will be maintained through the closure to keep certain key areas of the site running.
Within Flin Flon and Manitoba operations, Hudbay’s plans to deal with COVID-19 have not involved shutdown plans. Both 777 and Lalor are operating more or less as usual, with operation, production of concentrate and shipments staying on a schedule similar to before the COVID-19 outbreak.
“At this point, Manitoba remains a low-risk jurisdiction with no known cases of COVID-19 in northern Manitoba. However, the Manitoba team is actively managing the evolving situation and implementing the business preparedness plan, including planning activities in the event the company needs to reduce or cease operations or construction activities in the future,” said the March 20 Hudbay press release.
The Reminder received a statement from a Hudbay spokesperson March 16 detailing the company’s COVID-19 plans in Manitoba, stating that the company was taking advice from Manitoba Public Health and has referred workers with flu-like symptoms to public health authorities. No cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in northern Manitoba as of March 20.
Within Hudbay operations in Manitoba, some actions have been taken to lessen the spread of possible illness. Firmer limits have been put in place to reduce the number of people allowed in the cage at any given time, along with rules in dormitory facilities in Snow Lake. Workers are asked to not eat in the company’s cafeteria and take food to their rooms to eat instead.
When asked if Hudbay had plans to potentially close any Manitoba operations temporarily due to COVID-19, the spokesperson said the company had taken some steps in Manitoba operations to lessen the chance of transmitting the disease.
“Our priority is the health and safety of our employees and despite the fact that the risk of COVID-19 in Manitoba is low, we are taking extra precautions in our operations to proactively prepare for the impact of the virus, including promoting social distancing, reducing travel and increased sanitization of common areas to name a few of the measures we've implemented,” said the spokesperson.
“At this point, we haven't had any interruption to our Manitoba operations and we will continue to follow the advice of the health authorities.”
Shares in Hudbay have plummeted during the COVID-19 outbreak, going from as high as $10.25 last April and $4.24 Feb. 20 to as low as $1.95 March 20.
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