Pandemic, Production, Progress: Checking in on Alaska's operating mines.

• Author: Mackenzie, Kathryn
• Position: NATURAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

The current state of Alaska's mining sector could be summed up in three words: pandemic, production, and progress. Mining has been deemed an essential business activity here, meaning the state's operating mines have been allowed to keep operating through the pandemic Unfortunately that doesn't mean they've been untouched by the novel coronavirus. When cases of COVID-19 began popping up in even the most rural corners of the state, Alaska's mining companies swiftly implemented new, stricter health guidelines to ensure exploration, development, and production activities could continue while also protecting the industry's more than 2,600 full-time workers, their families, and communities.

COVID-19 Mitigation

In Southeast, Kensington Mine owner Coeur Alaska released a list of rigorous safety protocols with policies that include visitor pre-approval, quarantine requirements, social distancing, and a host of additional precautions for everyone coming to and from the Kensington site. Additionally, any employee with a temperature above 99.6[degrees]F will be denied access to the site.

Along with following recommended health and safety guidelines, Hecla, owner of Greens Creek, "took steps to de-risk all aspects of the business, which now puts us in a position to respond to COVID-19," Hecla President and CEO Phillips S. Baker Jr. said in a release. The company proactively implemented a fourteen day quarantine for all employees coming to Admiralty Island in an effort to stop the virus from ever reaching the mine. The company also put in place a strict safety regime.

Red Dog Mine, located in Northwest Alaska and owned by Teck Resources, quickly established enhanced COVID-19 response measures after multiple employees and contractors tested positive for the virus. As of mid-September the company said all personnel at the mine site have been placed on Teck's Worker Protection Program, meaning they must wear a KN95 mask, maintain social distancing, dine in their rooms, and are required to have two confirmed negative COVID-19 tests before departing the site. The company has also installed a "realtime" body temperature monitoring system including four thermal imaging cameras as a means of early symptom detection.

Meanwhile in Fairbanks at Kinross Gold's Fort Knox mine, employees are being recognized for their efforts to curb COVID-19 through the Kinross "COVID Champions" program that launched in mid-May. Kinross implemented more than 140 employee suggestions...