Manitoba mine catches fire twice

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This article was published 15/09/2022 (1283 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A mine in northern Manitoba had to be evacuated twice in less than 24 hours, after two underground fires erupted.

An equipment fire at the Lalor mine near Snow Lake broke out around 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon when, Snow Lake RCMP said, a scoop tram caught fire underground.

All 177 workers who had been trapped had been rescued by 1 a.m. Thursday.

A spokesperson for Hudbay, the Toronto-based company that owns the mine, said at some point overnight, the same piece of equipment caught fire again.

“The mine rescue teams were dispatched underground and successfully extinguished the fire. Initial reports indicate that the fire originated in a rear tire and our team will continue to monitor this,” the spokesperson said in an email. “We can also confirm that all employees who were underground at that time were safely brought to the surface.”

Hudbay did not say how many employees had to be rescued the second time, but Snow Lake Mayor Peter Roberts said there were fewer people the second time because the fire started while staff were monitoring the situation. The company’s website says the primary ores mined at the Lalor site are gold, zinc and copper. Approximately 4,650 tonnes are extracted daily, it says.

“Most of the people didn’t go under because there was a flare-up. It wasn’t quite as bad as the first time around,” he said.

Miners at Lalor are from across the country, Roberts said. Staff ranges from northerners to people from B.C., Ontario and Newfoundland.

Snow Lake hasn’t dealt with mine fires at this capacity as far as Roberts can remember. Those trapped in the mine during the first fire had access to fresh air, water and food while they waited for help.

“When there’s an emergency like that, everybody has to go to a refuge station. They have water and sustenance there to keep them going and they can block themselves off so smoke can’t get into there. They have fresh air coming,” he said.

Roberts met with Hudbay officials Thursday afternoon to discuss the timeline of events. Hudbay will investigate and will likely report back within weeks to provide an update on the cause of the fire. Operations are expected to resume Friday.

Snow Lake is nearly 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca