Alaska fires force evacuations, mine shutdownAlaska fires force evacuations, mine shutdowns
By: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: '02-JUL-04 04:00' GMT © Mineweb 1997-2004
RENO--(Mineweb.com) Two Alaska mining properties have been shut down and evacuated due to wildfires in Alaska's interior.
The evacuations were of Fairbanks Gold's Fort Knox Gold Mine was ordered Wednesday afternoon as the 117,000-acre Boundary Fire threatened businesses, cabins and homes. On Wednesday, the mine's power grid and the mill were shut down in sequence, Bruce Royal, Loss Control Specialist for Fairbanks Mining, told Mineweb. The mine was completely shut down Wednesday night.
As of Thursday afternoon, the fire was burning four to five miles away from the $600 million mining operation. Fort Knox is the largest gold mine in the state. Royal said 14 people, including himself, remain on fire watch at the mine as of Thursday afternoon.
In an interview with Mineweb Thursday, Alaska Mining Association President Steve Borrell said that the Fort Knox property has plenty of "good, defensible space" around the mine site, which may help firefighters to prevent the blaze from consuming the mining facility. He added that mining heavy equipment can be stored in a pit deep enough to protect the equipment from the fire.
Borrell said that the Pogo Joint Venture has also been shut down and evacuated. Teck-Pogo Inc., an affiliate of Teck Cominco Limited, is the operator for the advanced stage gold project located northeast of Delta Junction, Alaska. The Pogo project is a joint venture of Teck-Pogo Inc., Sumitomo Metal Mining America and SC Minerals America Inc. Fires threaten the 300-person man camp and airstrip which has already been constructed at the site, according to Borrell. The smoke from the fires are so thick, visibility in Fairbanks is only one-quarter mile at 1,000 feet. He added that 40 employees at the site were evacuated two days ago.
Construction has already commenced for the 2,500 tpd underground gold mine and mill expected to produce 350,000 to 500,000 ounces of gold per year over a 10 year mine life. Commercial production is scheduled to begin in March 2006.
Borrell said federal and state Alaska firefighting agencies sought assistance from the state Division of Mining to ensure that placer miners and other small miners were safe and were evacuated from fire danger zones,.
Firefighters and state troopers have gone door-to-door telling residents in these areas to pack their belongings and head for Fairbanks. The wildfire is headed in the general direction of Fairbanks, but officials say it was still several days away.
Eight major fires, which have already consumed thousands of acres, are burning in the state as of Thursday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski held a press conference Thursday morning and announced the state would muster sufficient resources to help stop the Boundary and other fires from threatening homes and businesses.
More details will be published as they become available.