Update: Newmont Musselwhite Mine wins mining safety completion

SUDBURY – After an intense competition, Newmont Musselwhite Mine in the Red Lake district where announce the winners of the Ontario Mine Rescue Competition.

“The invitation-only event marks the final month of the annual mine rescue volunteer training cycle,” says Ted Hanley, Vice President, Mine Rescue. “And the provincial competition brings together all of the district winners and challenges them to resolve an advanced mine emergency.”

In the previous year, the district competition was held in spectator-friendly hockey areas with mazes that simulate mining operations.

In this year’s provincial competition, each team was sent into a fully functional mine to test their skills.

“Spectators viewed the teams via camera feed to surface,” says Hanley, “as each team navigates the mine and attempts to solve a variety of mine hazards using their knowledge, skills, and abilities to evacuate the workers trapped underground and restore the mine to safe working conditions. Skills are tested in as realistic a scenario as possible to help ensure they are prepared for future mine emergencies.”

Under the authority of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and headquartered in Sudbury, Ontario Mine Rescue maintains a network of mine rescue stations across the province to ensure mines have the proper emergency response capability.

Ontario Mine Rescue has trained and equipped thousands of volunteers who have fought fires, rescued injured personnel, and responded professionally to a wide array of incidents in the province's mines over the past eight decades.

During this competition, the best of the best was tasked and evaluated in areas such as firefighting skills, first aid response, use of emergency equipment, and decision-making ability under stress.

The scenario this year included the construction of ventilation infrastructure, the application of first aid to injured miners, the use of specialty mine rescue equipment, and the challenge of detecting contaminated mine ventilation and making it safe. 

“Ontario Mine Rescue is proud to report that all seven of the highly skilled participating teams successfully resolved the emergency,” says Hanley. “Each team is evaluated on the strength of their strategy and use of safe procedures.”

However, there can only be one winner.

The winners of this year’s event, with the Provincial Champions taking home the coveted gold hard hats, were as follows:

Team Competition Results:

Provincial Champion - 1^st Overall – Newmont Musselwhite Mine, Red Lake District

                Captain - Jack Lawson

#2 - Taylor Poling

#3 - Alexa Dumaine

#4 - Scott Lawson

Vice Captain - Philip Mullin

#6 - Jimmy Sinclair

Briefing Officer - Ryan Lepage

#7 - Nick Gosselin

Coaches - Chris Horde and Gabe Roy

Mine Rescue Officers - Kurtis Atkinson and Jeff Farquharson

2nd Overall – Impala Canada Lac des Isles Mine, Thunder Bay District

Team Firefighting Award – Newmont Musselwhite Mine, Red Lake District

Team First Aid Award – Lakeshore Gold Timmins West & Bell Creek Mines, Timmins District

Team Special Equipment Award – Newmont Musselwhite Mine, Red Lake District

Team Theory Exam Award – Lakeshore Gold Timmins West & Bell Creek Mines, Timmins District

Additional competing teams:

Barrick Hemlo Williams Mine, Algoma District

Alamos Gold Young-Davidson Mine, Kirkland Lake District

Compass Minerals Goderich Mine, Southern District

Onaping District – Did Not Qualify

Individual Technician Competition results:

1st – Garry Bennett, Alamos Gold, Young-Davidson Mine, Kirkland Lake District

2nd – Jean Yves Doiron, Vale Sudbury Operations, Sudbury District

3rd – Darren Bullied, Evolution Mining Red Lake Gold Mines, Red Lake District

Additional individual technician competitors:

Monika Jorgenson, Impala Canada Lac des Isles Mine, Thunder Bay District

James Greer, Wesdome Gold Mines Eagle River Mine, Algoma District

Michael Bennett, Glencore Kidd Mine, Timmins District

Jim Ahrens, Compass Minerals Goderich Mine, Southern District