Two mining firms fined $210K after fatal helicopter incident

Two mining companies have been fined a total of $210,000 after a worker was killed in a helicopter-related incident at a remote exploration site in northern Ontario.

Angus Gold Inc., based in Toronto, and G4 Drilling Ltd./Forage L4 Ltée of Val-d’Or, Que., were convicted under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) following an investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The incident occurred at the Golden Sky Project off Paint Lake Road in the District of Thunder Bay.

According to the Ontario government, Angus Gold failed to conduct a risk assessment for drilling operations involving helicopter use, as required by section 5.1(1) of Ontario Regulation 854/90, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the OHSA. The ministry stated that G4 Drilling failed to “take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker,” contrary to section 25(2)(h), by not providing effective radio communication equipment to workers.

Following guilty pleas in Thunder Bay Provincial Offences Court, Angus Gold was fined $110,000 on October 3, 2025, by Justice of the Peace J.A. Bernard Caron. G4 Drilling was fined $100,000 on February 13, 2026, by Justice of the Peace Daphne Armstrong. Crown counsel was David McCaskill in both matters.

The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The Ontario government said the surcharge is credited to “a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.”

Sequence of events at Golden Sky Project

The fatality occurred during mining exploration activities in August 2024, after Angus Gold contracted G4 Drilling to provide drilling services at the Golden Sky Project, about 25 nautical miles west of Wawa, Ont.

On August 23, a helicopter contractor was moving drilling equipment between two sites. By late afternoon, only a metal cage remained to be transported. A G4 Drilling foreperson and assistant foreperson were at the original site attaching the cage and other equipment to a longline, while a G4 driller and helper were at the new site to receive the load.

A longline is a high-strength rope or cable used to suspend cargo beneath a helicopter. Taglines—fibre ropes attached to suspended loads to control rotation and pendulum motion—were also being used.

When the helicopter reached the new site, there were difficulties positioning the cage. After several unsuccessful attempts, the pilot flew the G4 assistant foreperson from the original site to the new site to assist with guiding the load.

The Ontario government reported that the pilot later advised over the radio that they had to leave to refuel the helicopter. The only worker with a portable handheld radio was the G4 driller, and the radio message “went unheard by the driller.”

The pilot lifted off without confirmation from anyone on the ground that it was safe to do so, the ministry said. As the helicopter climbed with the cage still attached, the G4 assistant foreperson became entangled in two taglines.

Workers who saw the entanglement attempted to contact the pilot by radio, but “the pilot could not understand what was being said,” according to the Ontario government. The assistant foreperson was eventually freed from the taglines, fell from the helicopter and was fatally injured.

Here are safety precautions employers conducting helicopter-supported mineral exploration and drilling work should consider: