SSR targets October restart at Seabee gold mine in Saskatchewan after forest fire

SSR Mining (TSX, Nasdaq: SSRM; ASX: SSR) is expecting to restart its Seabee gold operations in Saskatchewan in the second half of October after a forest fire halted activities last month.

The company plans an update on its costs and production forecast in its third-quarter financial results, the gold miner said in a press release Monday. Repairs are needed for some equipment damaged by fire, it added.

SSR has cleared all employees to return to the site some 500 km northeast of Saskatoon after fire activity declined significantly. Workers were evacuated in August except those who remained to help with fire protection.  

The process plant and Santoy mine, where mining has been taking place at Seabee, have had no material damage, SSR said. 

Shares in SSR mining fell 6% on Monday to close at C$7.68 apiece in Toronto, valuing the company at C$1.6 billion. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of C$5.10 to C$20.03.

Seabee output

Last year, Seabee produced 90,777 oz. of gold and has forecast 75,000 to 85,000 oz. of gold this year at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,495 to $1,535 per payable ounce.

Acquired by SSR in 2016, the Seabee operations consisted of two underground mines, but the Seabee mine, which entered production in 1991, had exhausted its resources. The Santoy mine has been in production since 2014.

As of year-end 2023, Seabee had an estimated mineral reserve of 343,000 oz. of gold from ore with an average grade of 5.17 grams per tonne. Current exploration programs are focused on new reserve growth at both Santoy and the Gap Hangingwall targets.

In February, Turkish officials shut the company’s Çöpler gold mine after a heap leach landslide killed nine workers. The cleanup includes removing about 10 million tonnes of material. 

Elsewhere, SSR holds the open-pit Marigold mine in Nevada, the silver-lead-zinc Puna operations in Argentina and the San Luis gold-silver project in Peru.