Shaft collapse kills worker at Wolverine mine

VANCOUVER — A shaft collapse at the Wolverine mine in the Yukon has killed one worker, marking the second death at the mine in the past year.

According to Yukon Zinc, the privately-owned company that owns Wolverine, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), two mechanics and a machine operator were working in a stabilized area of the underground mine when it collapsed on them at around 3:30 a.m. local time on April 25.

“Two of the persons were able to be extricated from the mine but the third person, unfortunately, was trapped by debris,” RCMP Sgt. Don Rogers told CBC News. “At approximately 3 p.m. . . . workers at the mine were able to get to the trapped worker who, unfortunately, was located deceased.”

Yukon Zinc later identified the deceased as 25-year-old William Fisher, an employee of Procon Mining & Tunnelling. Fisher was from Sudbury, Ont. One of the survivors was treated for non-life threatening injuries at a hospital in Watson Lake, Yukon.

The three trapped men were employed by Procon, a mining contractor working at the site.

All construction and underground activities at the developing mine have been suspended. Yukon Zinc, Procon, the RCMP and Yukon authorities are all investigating the accident.

“This is a tragic outcome and a very sad day,” said Raymond Mah, chief operating officer of Yukon Zinc, in a statement. “On behalf of our management and staff we express our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of our deceased colleague. Both Yukon Zinc and Procon place great emphasis on mine safety and will continue to promote a culture and mindset of safety first.”

The Wolverine mine site is roughly 200 km south of Ross River and 400 km northeast of Whitehorse, Yukon. Yukon Zinc defined a measured and indicated resource at Wolverine of 4.46 million tonnes grading 12.14% zinc, 354.8 grams silver per tonne, 1.16% copper, 1.69 grams gold per tonne and 1.58% lead before two Chinese firms, Jinduicheng Molybdenum Group and Northwest Nonferrous International Investment, took over the company in July 2008. Yukon Zinc continued on as a privately-held company and has advanced Wolverine much of the way towards production, which is expected to start in June.

Fisher is the second worker to die at Wolverine within six months. In October, Paul Wentzell, a 20-year-old contract employee from Newfoundland, was killed after being hit by a truck while working on a tunnel. Safety investigators concluded Wentzell had put the truck in neutral and failed to apply the backup brakes before getting out of the vehicle.