Court convicts mining company for failing to protect a worker
A Vancouver-based mining company has been fined $135,000 following a workplace injury at a mine near Sudbury, according to a court bulletin issued by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
DMC Mining Services Ltd. pleaded guilty in Ontario Provincial Offences Court in Sudbury in December 2025. Her Worship Sharon Ashick imposed the fine, with Crown Counsel Graeme Adams prosecuting the case.
The incident occurred on Oct. 22, 2024, at the Victoria Mine, approximately 35 km west of Sudbury. A worker was injured while removing an extra power cable from the wall of a mine shaft, the ministry said in its bulletin released Thursday.
According to the bulletin, three workers were removing the power cable while working on a suspended platform. They decided to remove the cable by cutting the metal bands securing it to the shaft walls and coiling the cable on the platform as they worked from the top down.
To make room on the platform, one worker stood inside the coiled cable, creating a pinching hazard. As the workers finished the task, the free end of the cable fell below the platform, causing the coil to tighten around the worker. The worker was injured as a result.
The ministry’s investigation found that DMC Mining Services Ltd. did not ensure workers removed the cable in a way that reduced risk. The company should have directed workers to start from the bottom up and to avoid standing inside the coiled cable, according to the bulletin.
The company was convicted of failing, as an employer, to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker, contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25% victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
DMC Mining Services Ltd. is an underground mining company that operates in various locations across Canada.
