- OceanaGold (OGC) resumed mining work at its Macraes and Waihi operations in New Zealand late yesterday
- The suspension took effect on August 16, in line with the government’s decision to implement a nation-wide COVID-19 Alert Level Four lockdown
- With the exception of Auckland and Northland, the alert has now been downgraded to Level Three
- On Tuesday, the number of new COVID-19 cases in New Zealand fell for a second day to 49
- Shares in OceanaGold finished trading yesterday at $2.56 each
OceanaGold (OGC) resumed mining work at its Macraes and Waihi operations in New Zealand late yesterday as the country’s recent COVID-19 outbreak cools down.
The temporary suspension took effect on August 16, in line with the New Zealand government’s decision to implement a nationwide COVID-19 Alert Level Four lockdown. As the highest level of alert, the restrictions meant businesses not classified as essential services had to halt operations.
At Waihi, mining, processing and exploration activities were stopped completely, while OceanaGold maintained feed from stockpiled resources at Macraes.
Now, the national alert has been downgraded to Level Three — with the exception of Auckland and Northland, which were among the city’s worst hit by the outbreak — meaning operations can more or less get back to normal.
OceanaGold stressed it would abide by the necessary health protocols by using enhanced PPE, strict physical distancing, and staggered shifts, but warned that those measures combined with the two-week shutdown would result in a drop in production of between 4000 and 5000 ounces at each of the operations for 2021.
“We will continue to keep the market apprised of any COVID-19 impact to our business for which we are well prepared for,” said chief executive Michael Holmes.
“Over the course of the remaining months, we will continue to look for opportunities to make up for the decrease in production as a result of the COVID-19 impacts.”
On Tuesday, the number of new COVID-19 cases in New Zealand fell for a second day to 49. The total number of cases, however, stands at 612, with 597 in New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland and 15 in the capital Wellington.
Aside from a handful of cases in February, the country was largely coronavirus-free for months. That was until an outbreak of the Delta variant imported from Australia prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to order a snap nationwide lockdown on August 17.
Speaking at a news conference, Ardern noted that the declining number of daily cases was proof that the social restrictions implemented were effective in curbing the spread of the virus.
“We have a second day where our numbers have declined. We want the tail of this outbreak to be as short as possible,” she said.
Around 1.7 million Aucklanders will remain in strict lockdown for another two weeks, and police have set up checkpoints on the outskirts of the city to prevent non-essential movement.
Police also said they had arrested 19 people on Tuesday following anti-lockdown protests across New Zealand.
Shares in OceanaGold finished trading yesterday at $2.56 each.