OceanaGold’s South Carolina mine stays open

Mining underway in August 2016 at OceanGold’s Haile gold mine in South Carolina. Credit: OceanaGold

OceanaGold’s (TSX: OGC) (ASX: OGC) Haile mine in South Carolina remains in operation, the Melbourne-based gold miner said on Wednesday.

While the state government announced that all non-essential businesses are required to shut down for 14 days, under state guidelines, the status of the Haile mine remained unchanged, and operations are not impacted by the directive, OceanaGold said.

The Haile gold mine an open-pit operation located along the eastern coast US coast. The mine currently employs more than 600 people within the region and is considered the largest gold mining operation on the Atlantic coast.

The Haile operation has strict protocols and controls in place to maintain a high standard of health and safety, the company said. For the past three weeks, the Haile operation has only permitted entry to essential employees and contractors, while all administrative staff have been working offsite where possible.

All employees and contractors entering the site undergo a health screening process, and each shift has been split into smaller groups of less than three, with physical distancing implemented within these smaller groups, allowing the company to isolate smaller teams if any member of the team exhibits symptoms or tests positive for covid-19.

Last month, OceanaGold temporarily suspended operations at its Waihi gold mine, located on the North Island of New Zealand, in response to the covid-19 measures put in place by the New Zealand government.