Vale rescues all 39 workers trapped in Canadian mine

Reuters | September 29, 2021 | 7:38 am Top Companies Canada Copper Nickel

Vale says 19 workers return to surface from Canadian mine

Totten mine aerial view. Photo courtesy of Vale.

Vale has successfully rescued all 39 of its employees who were trapped in its Totten copper, nickel and precious metals mine in Sudbury, Ontario, the Brazilian miner said on Wednesday.

All workers are in good health, Vale said.

They were trapped on Sunday when a vehicle transporting the employees was taken offline. The workers then went to refuge stations with access to food and water, Vale said.

Vale CEO Eduardo Bartolomeo said an investigation would be launched into what happened.

Vale inherited the then-inactive and water-filled Totten facility in 2006 when the Brazilian company acquired Inco. Vale spent about $700 million to bring the nickel-copper mine into production in 2014.

(By Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Jason Neely)