Saskatoon

Agrium's Vanscoy, Sask., potash mine reopens after Chad Wiklun death

Agrium's potash mine in Vanscoy, Sask., has reopened after the death of a worker shut down its operations earlier this month.

Chad Wiklun, 29, died after he was caught between two pieces of underground machinery

Chad Wiklun pictured here with his daughters, Casey, 8, and Carsyn, 6. (Submitted by Celina Danis)

Agrium's potash mine in Vanscoy, Sask., has reopened after the death of a worker shut down its operations earlier this month. 

Chad Wiklun, 29, was seriously injured when he was caught between two pieces of heavy machinery while working underground. 

He died of his injuries at 10:40 p.m. CST on Aug. 10.

The mine, about 30 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon, was closed for several days after the incident but slowly reopened late last week, with all of its operations up and running by Sunday.  

The Vanscoy Agrium Potash mine is located about 30 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon. (CBC News)

Vanscoy mine general manager Todd Steen said although the workers were still shaken by Wiklun's death, most had returned to work underground. Some workers were given the day off for Wiklun's funeral. 

"There's still a lot of sadness and mourning," Steen said, adding the mine was doing extra training to heighten safety awareness underground.

Agrium's investigation into the death is ongoing and Steen said he does not expect the investigation to wrap up for at least another week. 

He said the province was also still looking into the incident.