Raglan Mine Restarts Regular Mining Operations

posted: 20/04/2020

Raglan Mine is pleased to announce that its regular mining operations resumed on April 18, 2020 and will progressively ramp up over the next several days.  As always, Raglan Mine's priority is to operate while ensuring the health and safety of its workers. No compromises will be made in this respect.

Raglan Mine is working with Public Health authorities in order to ensure the health and safety of all of its employees, and strictly follows their recommendations to protect its workers, including rigorous screening prior to arriving on site. 

Protecting Nunavik's population

Raglan Mine is also in close coordination with Public Health regarding its employees residing in Inuit communities, which are particularly vulnerable due to their remoteness and the limited capacity of the health network in the villages. In an effort to minimize the exposure of the Nunavik population to those from the south, workers in Nunavik communities must remain at home for the time being.  Nunavik's regional authorities currently prohibit flights between the villages and the Raglan Mine site.

This exclusion applies only to those currently living in Nunavik. The approximate 100 Inuit employees living in the south of the province are permitted to go to the mining site. 

Those Inuit employees that cannot travel to the mining site will continue to be supported during this period. Raglan Mine will assess the situation as it evolves and update employees as appropriate. 

Resuming activities is key to Nunavik's economic development 

Each year, Raglan Mine injects more than $130 million into Nunavik's economy through direct and indirect salaries, contracts to suppliers, investments in social programs, profit sharing and more. Enabling the resumption of its activities will help generate positive spinoffs for the province, and particularly for the Nunavik region. It will also help reduce uncertainty for the 1,250 employees of Raglan Mine, which include nearly 250 Nunavimmiut. 

Enhancing on-site health and safety measures

Raglan Mine will continue to enforce measures related to intensive cleaning, disinfection, reorganized work to limit contact between workers, and isolation protocols in the event of a staff member or supplier developing symptoms. In addition, Raglan Mine is working in collaboration with the Centre de recherche du CHU de l'Université Laval to enable on-site testing for COVID-19.

Raglan Mine's Vice President, Mr. Pierre Barrette, is confident in the measures adopted at the mine site to protect workers: "Health and safety is our top priority in a regular operational context; this is even truer in a pandemic context. We want to make sure all our workers return home safe and sound at the end of their rotation. Everybody's collaboration and compliance with Public Health guidelines is required to make sure we can continue to operate our mine site, maintain employment and generate positive economic incomes in Nunavik and in the province, with no compromises to people's wellbeing."

For further information please contact:

Céliane Dorval: celiane.dorval@glencore.ca

 


tags: COVID19