3 miners trapped in northern B.C. are behind 30 metres of debris, company says

A remote-controlled scoop has begun the work of removing a pile of debris 20 to 30 meters long and seven to eight metres high to gain access to three workers trapped at the Red Chris mine in northern British Columbia, a company statement says. 

Newmont Corp. said Thursday that specialized drones have been sent in to assess the geotechnical conditions underground. 

“The area of the refuge chambers is not in the same area as the fall of ground and is understood to be stable and well-ventilated,” the company said of the location where the three workers are holding out. 

Teams are restoring a specialized communication system to try to re-establish communication with the workers, the statement said. 

The workers were trapped Tuesday after two rockfalls at the mining site, located on Tahltan Nation territory near Dease Lake, B.C., about 420 kilometres west of Fort Nelson, B.C.

Refuge chamber equipped for 16 people

The company said the three are in a refuge chamber with enough air, food and water for an extended stay, although their communication was cut off after the second cave in. 

“The workers are understood to be sheltering in a MineARC refuge chamber designed to support 16 people. Additional refuge chambers are also available nearby and accessible if required,” Newmont said Thursday.

Production at the gold and copper mine has been paused while the rescue effort continues. 

The mine is mostly open pit, but Newmont said in an earlier statement that development of underground block-cave mining began in 2019, four years after the mine’s first production date.

The company said the three workers who are trapped are business-partner employees, two from B.C. and one from Ontario. 

They were working more than 500 metres past the affected zone when the first rocks fell, and were asked to relocate to the refuge before the second fall. 

“Following the first event, contact was established with the individuals and confirmation was received that they had safely relocated to one of multiple self-contained refuge bays,” the company said. 

Miners around 600 metres inside tunnel: source

A source with direct knowledge of the mine and the rescue operation said the first fall of ground happened 200 metres into a lateral tunnel underground.

The source said the miners were 400 metres beyond that, meaning they were around 600 metres inside the tunnel.

According to the source, there has been no contact with the miners since the second fall of ground, but it did not impact the area where the three miners sought refuge.

The source said there were multiple self-contained refuge bays in the area, with each having enough supplies to sustain 16 people for three days.

A statement from Hy-Tech Drilling, a Smithers-based company that works with mining companies around the world, confirmed the three contractors were that company’s employees. It said it would not be releasing the miners’ names out of respect for their privacy.

Nolan Paquette, a local vice-president with the United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 — which represents about 450 Red Chris workers — said the three workers are contractors who are boring a hole to start up “block-cave operations” at the mine within the next three years.

The open-pit mine, which is above ground, is transitioning to underground mining using “block caving,” a technique that involves digging underground to target the ore from below, according to a Newmont communications video on the company’s website.

The Red Chris mine is one of the projects that B.C. announced it would be fast-tracking in response to the U.S. tariff threat.