Explorers on high alert as challenging wildfire season rages

Canada’s most destructive wildfire season is ongoing. While conditions improve in Eastern Canada, Western Canada-focused explorers still face widespread interruptions to their summer field seasons.

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre’s (CIFFC) latest data, as of July 26, there were 1,024 active wildfires across Canada with 629 rated as out of control. The 4,787 wildfires counted in the year to date have scorched an estimated 122,000 sq. km, compared with last year’s total burned area of 16,565 sq. km.

In June, nearly 15 mining companies were forced to down tools due to over 150 forest fires engulfing several areas of Quebec. Agnico Eagle (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM), which operates the region’s largest gold mine, said Thursday air quality concerns temporarily paused much of its northern Quebec operations. However it did not materially impact it’s cornerstone Canadian Malartic mine, despite having to ‘adjust’ operations.

The wildfire situation continues to be precarious. In the CIFFC’s national preparedness levels system, Level 5 is the highest level of preparedness, signifying an extremely challenging and widespread fire situation.

In Quebec, Patriot Battery Metals (TSXV: PMET; ASX: PMT; US-OTC: PMETF) said on Wednesday it’s getting ready to resume exploration work at its Corvette lithium property for the first time since June 4 following the lifting of the forest entry ban due to wildfires.

Due to ongoing road closures, the company is remobilizing personnel and materials to the site via fixed-wing aircraft. It expects the roads to reopen soon as firefighters continue to make progress. Patriot will use a helicopter to begin drilling and environmental data collection by the weekend.

It said its highly anticipated initial resource estimate remains on track for release in late July.

Patriot is upgrading the winter snow road to an all-weather exploration road, extending the drilling season to compensate for lost time due to wildfires. The company plans to improve the exploration camp, reducing the reliance on helicopters for transportation. CEO Blair Way expressed gratitude to those fighting the wildfires, particularly the Cree Nation, while the company closely monitors the situation to ensure the safety of employees and contractors. Patriot aims to access more helicopters in August to support their exploration efforts.

Brunswick Exploration (TSXV: BRW) also announced this week that it has restarted prospecting at its Mirage project in the Eeyou Istchee-James Bay region of Quebec. Brunswick suspended exploration activities in June following an emergency fire evacuation order from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests that was since lifted.

No equipment on site was undamaged.

While access remains restricted to the other regional projects, visual inspections confirm that the camps here are largely untouched, with only the company’s PLEX project camp suffering minimal damage.

Drilling at the project is planned for late in the third quarter, with the permit application underway. Brunswick reported finding more than 20 abundant angular, spodumene-mineralized boulders in June.

Deteriorating situation

While conditions have improved in Eastern Canada, the situation in the Northwest Territories and B.C. is worsening. Slave Lake Zinc (CSE: SLZ) said Thursday the Northwest Territories government had confiscated all available rotary wing aircraft to support the efforts to fight rampant wildfires. Fixed-wing aircraft also have significant issues in operating under the current conditions, adding to a logistics headache for stakeholders.

Consequently, Slave Lake Zinc has had to postpone the scheduled ground exploration recognizance program, but would resume its plans as soon as possible.

The company aims to unlock the potential of its O’Connor Lake property, a historical site south of the Great Slave Lake and east of Osisko Metals’ (TSX: OM) Pine Point project that was initially developed after the Second World War. However, it was abandoned in 1952 due to the post-war collapse of zinc and lead prices.

Sun Summit Minerals (TSXV: SMN) has also suspended exploration activities at its 100%-controlled Buck polymetallic project in British Columbia in response to an uncontrolled wildfire in the region.

As per the evacuation order issued south of Houston, all personnel have been demobilized from the site.

The company does not expect the wildfire to impact its project area significantly.

Exploration activities mainly focused on areas west of the Buck Main zone, including Morice Mountain and a chargeability anomaly in the northern part of the CR property. Meanwhile, assays from three drill holes were completed before exploration was stopped, and 230 samples from surface exploration are expected shortly.