Frequent quarantine stays could be hard on a miner’s well being, warns the CEO of Fireweed Zinc, Brandon Macdonald.
Macdonald joined Kitco correspondent Paul Harris; editor Neils Christensen; and mining audiences manager, Michael McCrae, to record a podcast on Friday.
Macdonald noted that some miners travel outside of Canada for work then have to return to a 14-day quarantine with no access to a gym or recreation. Meals must be eaten in the hotel room.
“So they’re three-weeks on and two-weeks off. They come back to Canada and [start] a 14-day quarantine. Rinse and repeat. How sustainable is this?” asked Macdonald.
Harris noted that some mining companies are providing counseling to workers who travel off-site.
Macdonald noted that Fireweed operations are in Western Canada.
The group also discussed the Northern Star and Saracen merger, the biggest deal in the gold space in the past two years. The deal is valued at A$5.76 billion ($4.14 billion) and the newly-formed entity will be a global top-10 gold miner by market value. The panel also turned to Osisko Gold Royalties and its spin out of its Barkerville project.