The Mining Association of Manitoba announced Aug. 26 that the 2021 Provincial Mine Rescue Competition has been cancelled due to difficulties resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The competition had been scheduled to take place in a multi-site format Sept.. 8-16, with judges travelling to different mines while the competitors remained on home turf.
“Many of Manitoba’s mines are currently in the reopening or ramping up stages,” said mine rescue organization co-chair and mining association president Richard Trudeau. “As well, local communities have had travel restrictions, fire bans and faced material shortages that have made preparing four separate locations for a multi-site competition extremely challenging from both a cost-control and organizing perspective. In a typical year, Manitoba’s teams also travel to other competitions across Canada, so for the past 18 months we have been working to keep team members in a state of readiness, while also balancing provincial and corporate health restrictions,”
Mine rescue teams will continue to train and prepare for future mine rescue competitions, which are a regulatory requirement for mine operations in Manitoba.
The provincial competition is expected to resume in 2022.
