ONTARIO - Vale announced that an employee was fatally injured on Jan. 29, 2012, while working underground in the main orebody at the 4215 level of the company's Coleman nickel-copper mine in Levack. The injury was incurred during what appears to be a displacement of material from a development heading. The employee was found and brought to surface, where he was subsequently pronounced dead by medical authorities.
The name of the employee was not immediately available. It is known that he was a development miner, 47 years old and had 16 years experience working with the company. He was believed to have been loading the face with explosives from a man-basket when the incident occurred.
The matter is being investigated by the Greater Sudbury Police Services, the Ontario Ministry of Labour, and representatives of Vale and the United Steelworkers Local 6500. Vale has temporarily suspended operations at its mines in Sudbury.
Two miners died in Vale's Stobie mine near Sudbury, ON, and another was killed at its Manitoba Operations in the past seven months. (Vale.com).