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Vale and KGHM teams headed to Ontario Mine Rescue competition

Competition kicks off June 6 in Matachewan
Vale mine rescue team
Mine rescue teams from Onaping and Sudbury will test their emergency response knowledge and skills against the rest of Ontario’s best at the 69th annual Ontario Mine Rescue Provincial Competition in Matachewan, June 6 and 7. (File)

Mine rescue teams from Onaping and Sudbury will test their emergency response knowledge and skills against the rest of Ontario’s best at Alamos Gold’s Young-Davidson Mine during the 69th annual Ontario Mine Rescue Provincial Competition in Matachewan, June 6 and 7.

KGHM, winners of the Onaping District Mine Rescue Competition, and Vale, East Mines, winners of the Sudbury District Mine Rescue Competition, will represent their districts. The district competitions were held earlier in May.

Last year’s winner, Goldcorp Canada, Musselwhite Mine Team Horde, will return to defend its title, and a previous guest team, Boliden Tara Mine from Ireland, also returns to the competition. 

Tara, which originally based its emergency response program on Ontario Mine Rescue, has visited Ontario and the Provincial Competition several times in the past 20 years, most recently at the 2016 International Mines Rescue Competition in Sudbury.

Alamos Gold will host the underground emergency simulation portion of the competition organized by Ontario Mine Rescue, a part of Workplace Safety North.

The competition will test the teams’ mining emergency response knowledge, firefighting skills, first aid response, use of emergency equipment and decision-making ability under stress during a simulated emergency.

A designated viewing area at the Young-Davidson site will permit family, friends and the media to watch the competition via livestreaming video. Admission is free. 

The competition will start at 7 a.m. each day.

Competing mine rescue teams, each a winner of their respective qualifying district competition, are:

Wednesday June 6:

  • Goldcorp Canada, Musselwhite Mine Team Horde (Red Lake District)
  • Kirkland Lake Gold, Holt & Taylor Mines (Kirkland Lake District)
  • Vale Canada Ltd., East Mines (Sudbury District).
  • KGHM, Morrison & McCreedy West Mines (Onaping District)

Thursday June 7:

  • North American Palladium, Lac des Iles Mine (Thunder Bay & Algoma District)
  • Tahoe Canada – Timmins West & Bell Creek mines (Timmins District)
  • K+S Windsor Salt Ojibway Mine (Southern District)
  • Boliden Tara Mine (Ireland)

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