ESG

Pogo worker diagnosed with COVID-19

Northern Star taking additional precautions

 Northern Star's Pogo mine in Alaska

Northern Star's Pogo mine in Alaska

MiningNews.net is making some of its most important coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic freely available to readers. For more coverage, please see our COVID-19 hub. To subscribe to MiningNews.net, click here.

The employee, who lives in Fairbanks, about a three-hour drive from Pogo, tested positive for the virus at home on leave, four days after completing a 12-day shift.

Northern Star said he had not developed serious symptoms or complications and was in the care of family and the company's medical providers.

Eight workers identified as potential close contacts are in self-isolation and are being transported off-site as soon as possible, with another six potential contacts on leave notified.

All 14 will spend the next two weeks in self-isolation and will be monitored for potential symptoms.

The US has recorded 337,072 cases of COVID-19 - more than double any other country - with 9633 deaths.

According to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine, Alaska has reported 185 cases with one death.

Several of Northern Star's North American peers have reported positive tests among their workforces, including Kirkland Lake Gold at Detour Lake, while Kinross Gold and IAMGOLD reported COVID-19 diagnoses of workers in their respective Toronto offices.

Northern Star said 10 days ago that it had given Pogo's workforce, some of which reside in the lower 48 US states, the chance to "stay or go" in anticipation of a shutdown of the Alaskan border.

The site is being sanitised and elevated hygiene and isolation practices already put in place will continue.

The company said Pogo continued to operate as planned.

Late last month, Northern Star withdrew full-year guidance and deferred its dividend payment due to the pandemic, with several analysts speculating whether the impact was weighted towards Pogo.

The company flagged a 10-15% hit to March quarter production due to early risk measures implemented in Alaska and Western Australia, with the June quarter also looking uncertain as the situation continued to evolve.

Guidance had been set at 920,000oz to 1.04 million ounces at all-in sustaining costs of A$1240-1340 an ounce.

Macquarie is forecasting full-year production of about 920,000oz at AISC of $1467/oz, while Canaccord Genuity predicts output of 866,000oz at AISC of $1419/oz.

Shares in Northern Star were up 1.2% to $10.30, valuing the company at about $7.6 billion.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Company ESG Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The Mining Company ESG Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Global Leadership Report 2024: Net Zero

Gain insights into decarbonisation trends and strategies from interviews with 20+ top mining executives and experts plus an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Project Pipeline Handbook 2024

View our 50 top mining projects, handpicked using a unique, objective selection process from a database of 450+ global assets.

editions

MiningNews.net Research Report 2024

Access a multi-pronged tool to identify critical risks and opportunities in Australia’s mining industry.