Metanor pumps mine in search of missing workers; one confirmed dead already

One man is dead and two others remain missing in Metanor Resources‘ (MTO-V) flooded Bachelor Lake gold mine near Desmeraisville, Que.

The victim’s identity has not been released.

Bruno Goulet, 36, Dominico Bollini, 44, and Marc Guay, 31, were doing repair work underground on Oct. 30 when they went missing, say reports from the Montreal Gazette and Canadian Press. A Metanor spokesperson was unavailable for comment.

The men were last heard from around 11:30 p.m. when they signaled to the shaft elevator operator to lower the elevator cage from the sixth level to the twelfth level – the bottom of the mine. The mine is about 550 metres deep.

The operator became worried when he didn’t hear anything and pulled up the cage to find it empty with the door open.

It was after that, that they learned that both the 11th and 12th levels were flooded. Water pumps are continually drawing out water from the mine. Normally, an alarm system would have sounded alerting them of the flooding. It’s uncertain whether the alarm system was working or whether it malfunctioned.

Workers continue to look for the other two men. Over the weekend, a Metanor spokesman said he was hopeful that the men had found an air pocket but now, three days later, the chance of finding them alive is slim. The three men have a total of five children between them.

Quebec provincial police and the workers health and safety commission are conducting an investigation into the accident.

All mining operations have been suspended.

Metanor bought the Bachelor Lake mine from Campbell Resources in 2004 with the intention of putting the mine back into production. The mine produced about 130,000 oz. of gold in the 1980s but was in need of work. The company got started by refurbishing the mill and processing ore from the nearby Barry open pit in 2008. Metanor aims to put the higher-grade underground mine back into production by next summer after upgrades there, increasing production to 70,000 oz. gold per year.

Metanor shares fell nearly 22% today, or 12.5¢, to 45.5¢ each on a trading volume of 4.6 million shares.

Two miners were killed on Sept. 26 at Dia Bras Exploration‘s (DIB-V, DBEXF-O) Bolivar copper-zinc mine in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Dia Bras reports that the miners died during a fatal accident at the mine, but did not provide any other details about their deaths.