- Western Australian nickel miners in the Forrestania region have had to shut down operations due to a bushfire
- Western Areas (WSA) and junior explorer Hannans (HNR) had to abandon the area to stay safe
- The fire has passed by the area now but is still being closely monitored
- Western Areas plans to reopen its Nickel mine soon, while Hannans will need to wait a bit longer to keep exploring
- The blaze is believed to have been started by a lightning strike
- Western Areas shares dropped 0.37 per cent to $2.70 each today, while Hannans closed almost 13 per cent up at 0.9 cents per share
Australia’s biggest nickel producer, Western Areas (WSA), had to shut down work on its Forrestania Nickel Operation in the face of bushfire scares.
The company said a fire, believed to have been caused by lightning, raged close enough to Forrestania that firefighting teams needed to step in and help keep people safe.
Thankfully, no one was injured in the blaze. Western Areas said in an announcement to the market today the threat has now passed. Nevertheless, the company is still closely monitoring the fire to make sure things stay safe.
Another relief for the company is how the mine site took no damage from the fire. As such, normal work is expected to kick back off soon.
The Forrestania area is in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. The Forrestania Nickel Operation is Western Areas’ main nickel asset, but the area is shared by other companies trying to strike riches in nickel like fellow ASX-listed Hannans.
The junior explorer was also forced to abandon camp because of the fire but shares Western Areas’ sigh of relief that no employees were hurt.
However, being in the exploring stage of nickel product Hannan’s work will take longer to start back up. Exploration work is paused until the fire is completely extinguished and roads a re-opened.
Hannan’s news today was overshadowed by an application for two more WA exploration licences. As such, the company’s share price closed 12.5 per cent up at 0.9 cents per share.
Western Areas, on the other hand, saw shares slip 0.37 per cent and closed with shares priced at $2.70 each.