Agnico Eagle reports that on March 19, 2021, an employee working at its Meadowbank Complex near Baker Lake, Nunavut tested positive for COVID-19. The result was confirmed by an accredited laboratory on March 27th, 2021.

As part of Agnico’s employee travel protocol for Nunavut, the individual was tested prior to boarding the flight north to Meadowbank on March 15th and the test result was negative. On March 19th, the employee started to develop mild COVID-19 symptoms. In accordance with Agnico Eagle’s protocol, the individual was immediately placed in isolation and re-tested. The employee presumptively tested positive on the same day and remained in isolation on site until being extracted on a special charter flight on March 20th.

The tracing exercise identified 15 employees that may have been in contact with the individual. The Company’s extraction protocol was activated, and protective measures were put in place to prevent potential contamination. The 15 people identified as potential contacts were re-tested and all results came back negative. They remained in isolation at the mine site until being extracted from the site on March 20 on a separate special charter flight. They have been instructed to follow the recommendations of their provincial health authorities and will be re-tested prior to returning to site.

As a preventive measure, all the employees who stayed at Meadowbank camp between Monday, March 15th and Thursday, March 18th were re-tested on March 20th and 24th, all the results were negative. Although the risk of contamination is considered low, all common areas (gym, smoke shacks and recreational room) have been shut down for extensive cleaning and disinfection. As of today, all common areas have been reopened following the cleaning process. We are working closely with Nunavut’s Office of the Chief Public Health Officer and we are following their recommendations.

The risk of transmission to the community of Baker Lake is very low. The Meadowbank Complex implemented precautionary measures in March to isolate itself from the community, including by having its Nunavummiut workers stay at home with 75% of their base salary to eliminate the potential risk of transmission of COVID-19 into the communities. The isolation of the Meadowbank Complex remains a priority, including during the transportation of employees to site, in order to continue protecting the communities.