Another fatality at Vale’s Sudbury mines

Vale (vale-n) has temporarily halted all of its underground mining activity at its five nickel-copper mines in Sudbury, Ont., following the death of a miner at the Coleman mine on Jan. 29.

Miner Stephen Perry was working on the 4,215-ft. level when he was struck by “what appears to be a displacement of material or rock from the development face in the main orebody,” commented Kelly Strong, Vale’s North Atlantic vice-president of mining and milling, in an early Jan. 30 news conference.

The forty-seven-year-old miner was brought to surface, where he was pronounced dead by medical personnel, said Strong, extending his condolences to the miner’s family and friends. Perry had been with the company for 16 years. 

This is the fourth fatality in seven months at Vale’s Canadian operations, and the third death at the company’s Sudbury mines.

Following the incident, the Brazilian mining giant suspended work at the Coleman, Stoibe, Creighton, and Garson and Copper Cliff mines, sending almost 1,600 employees home with pay as it drafts a new safety plan.

The company did, however, note that it’ll keep its surface production plants in Sudbury running by using stockpiled ore and ore from other Canadian operations.

Last October miner Greg Leason, 51, was injured at Vale’s Thompson underground nickel mine Manitoba, after falling down a mine shaft while operating a scoop tram. He died nearly two weeks later at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre. Leason had worked for Vale for 23 years and was a member of the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6166.

Four months prior, in June, USW Local 6500 miners Jason Cheiner, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, were killed at the Stobie mine, while working underground at the 3,000-ft. level. The two were engulfed by muck after they opened a gate and rock material overflowed into the area where they were working.

The company just wrapped up an investigation of the June deaths in late January, and is now looking into the latest fatality. The USW Union, Greater Sudbury Police Service and Ontario’s Ministry of Labour are also investigating.