Two Vale miners, Jordan Fram, 26, and Jason Chenier, 35, were killed June 8 while working underground at the 3,000-foot level of the company's Stobie Mine in Sudbury.
Mine rescue was dispatched, however both miners were pronounced dead at the scene.
"This is a devastating loss and our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends and co- workers of these employees," said Jon Treen, general manager of mining and milling for Ontario Operations and general manager of Ontario Operations. "We are concentrating our efforts on supporting the families and our employees at the mine site, and on investigating the incident to understand exactly what occurred."
The fatalities are being investigated by the Greater Sudbury Police Services, the Ontario Ministry of Labour and representatives of Vale and the United Steelworkers Local 6500.
The Sudbury Star reported a run of muck in an ore pass around 10 p.m. last Wednesday night that killed the two production miners.
The two men were working in the No. 7 ore pass area when a run of muck struck them. Fram and Chenier reportedly had 11 and six years experience respectively.
Three five-person mine rescue teams reached the accident scene in 80 minutes. While the primary Vale mine rescue team for Greater Sudbury operations was in Marathon, Ont. attending a provincial competition, the company had a pool of some 80 trained people to call in.
When the mine rescue teams reached the two men, they both had no vital signs. One of the men would have been operating a scooptram while the other would have been assisting.
There were 60 miners in the mine, which has been in operation since 1944, at the time of the accident, the Sudbury Star reported. Day and night shifts at the mine were cancelled June 9.
The last time a fatality occurred at in the mine was when it as owned by Inco in March 2006 when Robert Nesbitt, 57, was crushed by a concrete and steel platform while remotely operating a scooptram.
Pierre Gratton, Mining Association of Canada president and chief executive officer, issued a statement "expressing his deepest sympathies for the workers of Sudbury's Stobie Mine and sincere condolences to the families that have been directly affected."
Gratton also said, "Safety is a core value of the mining industry. In Canada, mining industry safety standards continue to improve because of technological advances and a more highly skilled and better-educated work force. Workers and companies alike are more safety-conscious than they have ever been and the sector leads other heavy industries in safety performance in many jurisdictions.
"The goal of every mine in Canada is to make sure that every worker returns home safe every day. When tragic events like this one occur, it affects all of us," said Gratton.
The Ottawa-based Mining Association of Canada is the national organization for the Canadian mining industry. Its members are engaged in mineral exploration, mining, smelting, refining and semi-fabrication.
