The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that mining companies have already experienced outbreaks of COVID-19 at their sites, contained infections and faced close calls, yet operations are already scaling up in Canada. The Post's Gabriel Friedman writes that Barrick Gold's chief executive officer Mark Bristow said his past experience dealing with outbreaks in Africa of Ebola, tuberculosis and malaria helped him prepare for the current pandemic. The company also has been purchasing protective equipment and antibody testing kits. "I think we're only partway through it," said Bristow, "It's a long haul." Still, he said the company has been managing ably, and is "within range" of the guidance it issued at the start of the year in terms of its production and costs. Meanwhile Wesdome Gold Mines operates a mining camp in Wawa, Ont., that remains open but its advanced exploration project near Val d'Or remains closed and could reopen in May, said CEO Duncan Middlemiss. So far there have not been COVID-19 outbreaks within the company, but it has been confusing as infected people may be asymptomatic but still contagious. "We're always worried about the second wave," said Mr. Middlemiss.