35 trapped miners safe after rescue, 4 more on long trek out of mine near Sudbury | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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35 trapped miners safe after rescue, 4 more on long trek out of mine near Sudbury

The Totten Mine near Sudbury, Ont., is shown on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Gino Donato
Original Publication Date September 28, 2021 - 9:06 AM

SUDBURY, Ont. - Thirty-five of 39 miners trapped underground in northern Ontario since Sunday have scaled a series of ladders to climb up safely to the surface, the company that runs the facility said Tuesday afternoon as a rescue operation continued.

Vale, which owns the Totten Mine near Sudbury, Ont., said it expected the four workers who remained underground to emerge by the end of the day.

"Employees reported to surface healthy and eager to return home to family," Vale said in a statement.

A team of 58 responders from the company's rescue team and the Ontario Mine Rescue agency have been helping the trapped workers through their long trek up the ladder system, the company said. Some miners have to climb up from 1,200 metres below the surface.

Henry Bertrand, one of the first miners to reach the surface, told local reporters early Tuesday that he had been with a small group working about 650 metres underground. It took him a little more than two hours to make the climb out.

"I'm happy to be out, for sure," he said, explaining that he'd had to climb two sets of ladders, rest on a landing and then continue up. "It's a trek. It's hard on the arms."

There was a larger group of miners about 960 metres below the surface, Bertrand said.

"A few gentlemen down there have health issues and stuff, so they'll need assistance to come up," he said.

Bertrand added, however, that he hadn't been too worried and took his time climbing out.

"It wasn't a cave-in or anything like that, no one was in harm's way," he said, noting that workers had been able to phone loved ones and were sent sandwiches and other snacks to eat.

"We stayed positive and cracked jokes and stuff like that."

The employees were trapped in the mine on Sunday when a scoop bucket being sent underground detached and blocked the mine shaft, Vale said.

The "conveyance system" for taking workers to and from the surface became unavailable due to damage to the shaft, the company said.

Vale said the trapped miners had been staying in underground "refuge stations," some 900 to 1,200 metres below the surface, as part of the company's standard procedures. They had access to food, water and medicine, it said.

The workers began making their way out Monday night through what the company called "a secondary egress ladder system."

"We thank the impacted employees for their patience and perseverance and the mine rescue teams for their tireless dedication and support," said Gord Gilpin, head of mining for Vale's Ontario operations. "This has been an incredible team effort."

The trapped workers were examined by medical support staff at various points through their climb up to the surface, Vale said. It also said it had a mental health team offering support once the miners were above ground.

United Steelworkers, which represents the majority of the trapped workers, said it was pleased with the progress of the rescue operation.

"No one has been physically injured in the incident or in the evacuation," the union said in a statement.

Nick Larochelle, president of USW Local 6500, said everyone came together to deal with what happened.

"The miners support each other, the highly trained mine rescue teams come together and the whole community waits patiently praying for the safe return of every one of the 39 miners to surface," he said in a statement.

Totten Mine opened in 2014, in Worthington, Ont., and produces copper, nickel and precious metals. It employs about 200 people.

The province's Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development said an inspection team will investigate the incident once the rescue operation is finished.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2021.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2021
The Canadian Press

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