The Totten Mine near Sudbury, Ont., is shown on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021.Gino Donato/The Canadian Press
A rescue operation is under way to bring 39 employees of a Vale S.A. copper and nickel mine in Sudbury to surface, after an incident in an underground mining shaft.
On Sunday, a scoop bucket that was being transported underground got stuck in the shaft, knocking the conveyance system that transports workers out of commission, Vale spokesperson Jeffrey Lewis wrote in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail.
Vale’s rescue crew is bringing the miners to surface using an egress ladder system, and all workers are expected to reach the surface by Monday night.
After the incident happened, the miners went to refuge stations, located between three and four thousand feet underground. There, they had access to water, food and medicine.
“We have learned that no one is injured, which is our number one concern,” Mr. Lewis said.
The Totten mine opened in 2014, is located about 40 kilometers west of Vale’s Copper Cliff complex, and employs around 200 people.
Brazil-based Vale acquired Canadian base metals company Inco. Ltd. for $18.2-billion in 2006, and in the process took over the company’s nickel operations in Sudbury.
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Niall McGee