Diavik’s mine rescue team wins overall championship

Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., operator of the Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT, is pleased to announce that its mine rescue team recently won the overall underground competition at the 10th National Western Regional Mine Rescue Competition held every two years in Fernie B.C. With the win, Diavik has successfully defended its 2009 title.

This world-class competition hosts teams from northern and western Canada and the northwestern United States. This year, 20 teams competed including 11 surface and nine underground teams.

The Diavik mine rescue team included Captain Kelsey Loessl, Vice Captain Nathan Pitre, Cody Gagne, Andrew Furlong, James Venera, Brent Karstad, Coordinator Alex Clinton, and Coach John Arnold. The team is drawn from a larger emergency response team which includes over 60 volunteers from all departments across the Diavik mine site.

The regional underground mine rescue competition includes smoke/search, obstacle and recovery, practical skills, first-aid, fire, and written tasks.

Diavik qualified for the regional competition after a successful showing at the 54th annual Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission mine rescue competition held in Yellowknife in June.

This northern event included Diavik, Ekati, and Snap Lake teams from Northwest Territories, Meadowbank Mine team from Nunavut Territory, and Minto Mine team from Yukon Territory. Three NWT/NU mines were represented in Fernie, including Ekati surface and underground, Meadowbank surface, and Diavik underground.