The decision is expected to impact around 437 workers, nearly 70% of the underground workforce

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Westwood Project is located around 420km northwest of Montreal. (Credit: Khusen Rustamov from Pixabay.)

Canadian mining company Iamgold has decided to trim around 70% of its underground workforce at Westwood Gold Mine temporarily.

The decision comes as mining activity at the site in Quebec remains suspended following a seismic event late last month.

The temporary redundancies are expected to impact around 437 workers.

The Westwood Project is located around 2.5km east of the former Doyon Gold Mine in the Bousquet Township, around 420km northwest of Montreal.

Iamgold owns 100% stake in the project, which includes 1,925 hectares and consists of 120 titles, one mining lease, one surface lease and three tailings leases.

Westwood underground remains suspended after the seismic event

Earlier this month, Iamgold reported a seismic event at the Westwood Gold Mine without divulging further details. The event occurred on 30 October.

Following the incident, the company informed government authorities and launched an investigation to identify the cause of the seismic event.

An update will be provided in early next year.

Westwood underground operations continue to remain suspended while Westwood mill resumed work on 4 November to process stockpile and Grand Duc open pit ore.

A mid-tier mining company, Iamgold has three gold mines on three continents. It includes Essakane mine in Burkina Faso, the Rosebel mine in Suriname and the Westwood mine in Canada.

Earlier this year, the company and its joint venture (JV) partner Sumitomo Metal Mining (SMM) commenced construction on the $1.3bn Côté gold project in Ontario, Canada.

Overall, it employs around 5,000 people.

According to the company website, the Westwood commenced production in the first quarter of 2013 and commercial production in July 2014.

In the first two quarters, the production amounted to 70,000 ounces with an average diluted grade of 7.98 grams of gold per tonne.