The 2016 International Mines Rescue Competition is officially underway.
This marks the first time the competition, which will test the skills of 27 teams representing 13 nations, will be held in Canada.
It kicked off at Grace Hartman Amphitheatre on Sunday with a parade of teams and speeches from dignitaries.
Competition gets underway starting Tuesday with the simulated mine emergency and first aid events, which continue through Wednesday.
Thursday will be the firefighting and rope rescue competitions.
Closing ceremonies will be held Friday, where the winners will be announced.
Established in 1998, the International Mines Rescue Competition is a biennial event that pits the world's best mine rescue teams against each other as they test their ability to rescue people underground, put out fires and practice first aid in a stressful environment.
“It will be our turn to show the world how we do things,” Tom Hopkins, captain of KGHM's Mine Rescue team in Sudbury, told Sudbury.com in a previous interview.
Hopkins and a few of his teammates participated in the 2014 International Mines Rescue Competition in Poland, where he said he learned a lot about the different techniques mine rescue teams use around the world.
Judges will determine how well teams perform by looking at the specific tasks they achieve in each event, and by judging the procedures, or how well they perform a task like safely rescuing a mine worker from an underground emergency.
Competitors will perform some tasks in an actual underground mine for the first time in international competition. Vale has lent its 114 Ore Body to the competition. The event will be broadcast live to large screens at the Copper Cliff Club.
More information for spectators, including shuttle buses to various events, is available on the competition's official website.
