Canadian miner New Gold Inc. said on Friday it has suspended operations at an Ontario mine after a significant number of workers making cross-border trips to the United States went into self-isolation.
Canada, which closed its borders this week to most foreign nationals, agreed with the United States on Wednesday to close their shared border to “non-essential traffic” to curb transmission of the novel coronavirus.
New Gold’s Rainy River mine is located about 65 kilometres north of Fort Frances, Ont., which straddles the U.S. border. About 70 per cent of the workforce is comprised of local residents who make frequent short trips into Minnesota, the company said.
The miner said it would halt operations for two weeks after a “significant” number of employees recently made trips to the United States and went into self-isolation.
It said a minimum crew would monitor and maintain essential activities and that there are no suspected or confirmed cases of the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus at any of its sites.
Reuters