Companies to pay $300K for training initiative after worker died at Nunavut mine in 2022
Vincent Crowe died at western Nunavut mine site after falling through sea ice
An agreement reached between the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) and a mining company in Nunavut after a worker's death will see $300,000 go toward a new training initiative.
The WSCC and B2Gold Back River Corp. (formerly called Sabina Gold and Silver Corp.) reached an agreement related to charges in connection to the death of a worker in January 2022, according to a news release on Tuesday.
Vincent Crowe was working at the mine's gold district project near Bathurst Inlet in western Nunavut when, while clearing snow from the ice road onsite, the dozer he was operating went through the sea ice near a pressure ridge on the ice road.
Matrix Aviation Solutions, Matrix Kitikmeot Ltd. and Gallant Restorations Incorporated are the other companies involved.
Crowe was working for a contractor, Matrix Kitikmeot, hired to build a 170-kilometre winter road from Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.'s Bathurst Port to its Goose project.
The WSCC had originally filed 10 charges in the Nunavut Court of Justice under the territory's Safety Act and the Mine Health and Safety Act.
The charges included failure to implement and maintain work practices, failure to ensure the health and safety of all persons at the work site, and neglecting or refusing to provide information relating to the safety investigation.
The training initiative will focus on safe construction, operation and maintenance of ice roads.
"The training has an emphasis on identifying and controlling hazards associated with such work and will be designed for workers, site supervisors, project managers, contractors and subcontractors," the release said.
The agreement was presented at the Nunavut Court of Justice on Tuesday.
The training initiative will be developed in Crowe's memory and is intended to help prevent similar deaths in the future.