Iamgold to temporarily cut 70% of workforce at Westwood gold mine

Canadian gold miner Iamgold has announced that it will temporarily lay off 437 workers at its Westwood gold mine in Quebec.

This represents a reduction in the working personnel by about 70%. Operations remain suspended at the mine site due to a seismic event which took place last month.

Westwood is located on the Doyon property, 2.5km east of the former Doyon mine in the Bousquet Township.

The mine started production in the Q1-2013 and is the only underground mine in the Iamgold portfolio.

The cause of the seismic activity is currently being investigated.

Iamgold said it completed assessing a business recovery plan for the gold mine and the company expects to provide an update on the seismic activity early next year.

Earlier this month, the Canadian miner slashed its full-year total attributable gold production guidance to the range of between 630,000oz and 680,000oz.

Iamgold attributed the drop in production guidance to the suspension of Westwood operations.

Iamgold’s full-year 2019 net loss was recorded at C$395m. The company operates four gold mines across three continents.

In July, Iamgold announced the resumption of operations at Rosebel gold mine located in Suriname.

The company obtained a key federal approval for Ontario’s Côté gold project in June this year.