Agnico Eagle Mine Rescue. Photo supplied by Workplace Safety North.

The 2023 mine rescue district competitions have been announced by Ontario Mine Rescue (OMR). Mine rescue volunteers in the following districts competed: Algoma, Kirkland Lake, Onaping, Red Lake, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Timmins, and Southern.

“The competitions are an important way to keep skills and practices up to date,” said Ted Hanley, vice-president of Mine Rescue and Emergency Services at Workplace Safety North. “The scenarios are designed to evaluate knowledge and are a great chance for the teams to collaborate and learn from each other.”

Winners taking part in provincial competition

The district competitions took place May 10 to 12, and winners move on to the provincial competition June 13 to 16 in Hagersville, Ont.

Mine rescue team members are the backbone of Ontario Mine Rescue. They are volunteer mine workers trained by Mine Rescue Officers to respond to all types of mine emergencies including fires, explosions and falls of ground.

During the exercise, five-member teams had to extinguish a small fire. Then they had to find and rescue a severely injured miner who had suffered a critical injury during a mine collapse.

Ontario Mine Rescue (OMR), a part of Workplace Safety North (WSN), operates under the authority of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Headquartered in Sudbury, OMR staffs, equips, and maintains a network of mine rescue stations across the province that ensure mines within a specified geographic area have adequate emergency response capability, it said in a press release.

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

The role of OMR is to deliver training to mine rescue responders, provide consultations, conduct audits, ensure WSN-owned equipment is maintained to manufacturers’ recommended standards, and provide technical consultation to mine operators during mine emergencies.

Ontario Mine Rescue District Competition Winners

Algoma District

Newmont Borden Mine team
Captain Patrick Gilbert, Vice Captain Jay Chenier, Ryan Levac (#2), Hank Harrison (#3), Tristan Larcher (#4), Nick Swanson (#6), Perry Canning (#7), and Briefing Officer Kyle Besnier
Winning Technician: Kyle Oullette (Island Gold Mine)

Kirkland Lake District

Agnico Eagle Mines Macassa Mine team
Captain Nick Perrier, Vice Captain Hubert Gour, Jackson Lafrance (#2), Jean Francois Racine (#3), Denis Dion (#4), Carlie Dewar (#6), Basil Eraif (#7), and Briefing Officer April Belecque.
Winning Technician: Jason Dicaire (Agnico Eagle Mines Macassa Mine)

Onaping District

Glencore team
Captain Julien Lalande, #2 Jesse Legault, #3 Neil Poulin, #4 Aaron Boutet, Vice-Captain Shawn O’Brian, #6 Pat Robitaille, #7 Xavier Bruneau, and Briefing Officer Bleir Millions.
Winning Technician: JY Doiron (Vale East Mines)

Red Lake District

Newmont Musselwhite Mine team
Captain Phil Mullin, Vice Captain Alexa Dumaine, Scott Lawson (#2), Leaf Watson (#3), Nick Gosselin (#4), Jimmy Sinclair (#6), Matt Arges (#7) and Briefing Officer Ryan Lepage.
Winning Technician: Darren Bullied (Evolution Mining, Red Lake Operations)

Southern District

Compass Minerals Goderich Mine team
Captain David Kelly, Vice Captain Joel Paquette, Cody Lobb (#2), Gordon Bailey (#3), Kyle Ropp (#4), Ken Nguyen (#6), Amanda Haak, Shea Bradley, and Briefing Officer Jason Phillip.
Winning Technician: Mike Fredriksson, an independent mine rescue technician, won the top technician award for the Southern district.

Sudbury District

Vale East Mines team
Captain Kordell Hull, #2 Will Davies, #3 Ryan Tinker, #4 Jason Cook, Vice-Captain Jeremy Faulkner, #6 Will Langois, #7 Loni-May Barlow, and Briefing Officer Shawn St. Louis.

Thunder Bay District

Impala Canada Lac Des Isles Mine team
Captain Brad Kemp, Vice Captain Cody Vold, Dillon Bradley (#2), Chris Cameron (#3), Ethan Gorman (#4), Devin Jackson (#6), Dave Chony (#7), and Briefing Officer Tyler Williams.
Winning Technician: Monika Jorgenson (Impala Canada Lac Des Isles Mine)

Timmins District

Lakeshore Gold Timmins West-Bell Creek Mines team
Captain Adam Weagle, Vice Captain Natalie Lafontaine, Shane Sullivan (#2), Brandon Duhan (#3), Blade Cashmore (#4), Serge Roy (#6), and Briefing Officer Terry Roy.
Winning Technician: Mike Bennett (Kidd Mine)