More employees test positive for COVID-19 at Kensington mine near Juneau

A mine vehicle enters the Kensington Portal on Oct. 15, 2019.
A mine vehicle enters the Kensington Portal on Oct. 15, 2019. It’s one of two accesses for a network of about 28 miles of underground tunnels. (Photo by Jacob Resneck/CoastAlaska)

Kensington Mine reported Wednesday that a total of 19 of its employees have now tested positive for COVID-19. The number of confirmed cases could still rise. City officials say tests for 94 of the 210 workers at the mine are still pending.

A batch of three miners had developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive on Monday. They along with a dozen close contacts were removed from the gold mine and are now isolated and quarantined at a company facility in town, Juneau officials said.

Juneau’s Deputy City Manager, Mila Cosgrove, says the mining company moved quickly and is working to contain the outbreak at its remote mine site 45 miles north of town.

Employees will remain at the mine site until the remaining test results have been received, the city said. Those isolated in town are being provided with food and other needs. Security is in place to ensure the quarantine rules are respected, the city said.

The mine instituted COVID-19 protocols in March. Most recently all employees have quarantined for a week and passed a COVID-19 test before being allowed on the mine site that’s only accessible by air and water.

Kensington Mine is one of the region’s largest private sector employers. The company says it has 386 people on its payroll and around 250 workers on site at any given time.

State public health officials are working to trace the origin of the outbreak.

This is a developing story and new information will be added when it becomes available.

Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska

Jacob Resneck is CoastAlaska's regional news director based in Juneau. CoastAlaska is our partner in Southeast Alaska. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.

Sign up for The Signal

Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week

Site notifications
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications