QAMANITTUAQ/BAKER LAKE - The majority of workers at Agnico-Eagle's Meadowbank gold mine are not expected to return to the site until early April, three weeks after a fire took out the mine's kitchen and cafeteria.

The fire that occurred at Agnico-Eagle's Meadowbank gold mine on March 11 destroyed the mine's kitchen, cafeteria and some adjoining offices. - photo courtesy of Agnico-Eagle

Until then, all staff, whether working or not, will continue to be receive pay, said Denis Gourde, Nunavut general manager for Agnico-Eagle. The company employs a total of 628 people working on rotation.

A fire broke out in the early morning hours of March 11 inside the kitchen at the mine, located 70 km north of Baker Lake. The cause is not yet known.

More than 300 employees were evacuated in 17 hours and transported to their home communities in Baker Lake, other Kivalliq communities and, in the case of Meadowbank's French-speaking staff, Val-D'Or and Montreal.

"The ones that live far from Baker Lake – like, let's say, Chesterfield Inlet, Whale Cove, Arviat – they sent them (back home) by plane," said Jonathan Tugak, an employee from Baker Lake.

Workers from Baker Lake were evacuated by bus on a 100-km gravel road used to bring staff to and from the community, he added.

As of last week, open pit mining had ceased but the mill was still in operation using lower-grade, stockpiled ore, reducing the number of on-site staff to 175 from 450.

Gourde said the company was working on upping the number of on-site staff to 220 by today.

Numbers should return to normal early next month, he said.

"We should resume full crew on site in the first week of April if weather permits."

Asked why the reduction in staff was necessary if none of the mine's production infrastructure was impacted by the fire, Gourde said, "We are limited by the food preparation capacity of the exploration camp."

A day after the fire, Agnico-Eagle flew in a cargo plane with perishable food from the south. The mine's frozen food supply was not affected by the fire, and the company also had some food at the exploration camp, located 10 km from the main site.

"Nobody was starving," said Gourde.

Nor did the temporary shortage of food at Meadowbank affect the supply at Baker Lake's grocery stores, said Tugak.

"Everything is still good. Agnico-Eagle is really good at flying their own food in from Montreal," he said.

But the fire has forced Agnico-Eagle to reshuffle some of the mine's infrastructure.

As of last week, workers were being fed breakfast and dinner inside the exploration camp, while lunch (soup, sandwiches, desserts) was being served inside the gymnasium, which was assembled mere months ago.

"We are installing a temporary kitchen (beside the gym) and the gym will be used as a dining facility for the next few months until we receive the new permanent kitchen complex on the barges this fall," said Gourde.

Production initially began at Meadowbank in March 2010.

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