Mother Nature has accomplished what low gold prices could not: shut down Kinross Gold's Fort Knox gold mine! Two particularly virulent wildfires have been raging through the Fairbanks dstrict and in late June Alaska Division of Forestry officials closed roads and issued an evacuation order for a large area north of Fairbanks that included the Fort Knox mine. The mine took steps to slowly shut down the 40,000 tonne per day operation and leave a care and maintenance crew on-site. All equipment that could be moved was clustered in the open pit where the likelihood of fire damage was considered minimal. The shut down lasted only a few days but proved once again who is REALLY in control.