Worker died in ‘run of muck’ at mine
The Ontario government will hold an inquest into the death of a 64-year-old miner in 2020.
Dr. Kevin Miller, regional supervising coroner, North Region, Thunder Bay Office, has announced that the proceedings will examine the details surrounding the death of Edouard Gallant.
Gallant died on May 27, 2020, from injuries sustained while working at a mining site in Thunder Bay.
Gallant was struck by a sudden flow of blasted ore saturated with concrete and water—referred to as a “run of muck”—at the Lac des Iles palladium mine, located within Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (Gull Bay First Nation), according to a CBC report.
Gallant was at the bottom of an ore pass, attempting to remove lockout locks to allow additional muck to be evacuated, according to the report, citing information from the province’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
He had communicated with colleagues by radio about difficulties getting the muck to move. Shortly after, the muck dropped suddenly, overwhelmed protective barriers, and fatally injured Gallant.
Previous fines, mine closure
In October 2023, Impala Canada—owner of the mine—was fined $300,000 and SCR Mining and Tunnelling—Gallant’s employer—was fined $130,000 for failing to ensure workplace safety in connection with his death.
A series of events led up to the incident, Canadian Occupational Safety previously reported. Impala Canada Ltd. had identified deterioration in an ore pass, a vertical underground opening used for ore transportation within the mine. The company hired SCR Mining and Tunnelling to repair the ore pass. SCR’s rehabilitation process involved scaling the walls, installing ground support, and shotcreting the ore pass walls in six-foot vertical sections.
The tragedy occurred during the repair work when an unusual amount of shotcrete rebounded off the walls, and water collected on top of the muck. On the day of the accident, SCR initiated a muck drawdown, during which an SCR worker entered the loading pocket platform to remove lockout locks to evacuate additional muck. Unfortunately, the flow of muck was not controlled by the guillotine gate, causing the muck—saturated with shotcrete—to overwhelm the protective barriers and fatally injure the worker.
It was also revealed that the Lac des Iles Mine had an underground water management plan in place, but it did not include procedures to guard against the addition and accumulation of water in ore passes during repair activities.
The inquest’s five-person jury will determine who died, when and where they died, the medical cause of death, and the means by which the death occurred. The jury cannot assign blame or make legal judgments, but may make recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future. The Ontario government has not given a specific date for the proceedings as of the writing of this article.
Impala Canada has since announced that the Lac des Iles Mine will close by May 2026 due to declining palladium prices, according to CBC.
