Wildfires in northern B.C. have forced Vancouver-based Imperial Metals Corp. (TSX:III) to shutter its Huckleberry mine.
The company issued a release Tuesday that said fires burning approximately 50 kilometres from the plant site threatened the access road to its mine and the accompanying power line. The mine is located 123 kilometres southwest of Houston.
Most of Huckleberry’s 250 employees have been sent home although a skeleton crew remains on site for maintenance.
Imperial president Brian Kynoch explained the closure to BIV on Wednesday morning.
“The forestry guys don’t like a bunch of people on the wrong side of a fire,” said Kynoch. “Basically, the fire could have threatened the road and then the road would be closed and nobody could get in or out.”
The copper-molybdenum mine is one of the largest of its kind in B.C., and in 2009, accounted for more than half of the company’s annual copper production.
Imperial pulled approximately 46 million pounds of copper out of the ground at Huckleberry last year.
The company’s share price dropped $0.40 to $15.91 at market close on Tuesday.
The closure coincided with a release from the ministry of forests that asked British Columbians to stay out of the backcountry where high winds are expected to increase aggressive fire behaviour in the northwest, Cariboo and Prince George regions.
Although multiple fires are burning across the province, Kynoch said the company’s other mine, Mount Polley, has not been affected.