Loose rock fell from the hanging wall and injured the worker
A gold mining company has been fined $100,000 after loose rock fell and injured a worker in an underground raise that lacked required ground support, according to the Ontario government.
Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. pleaded guilty in Provincial Offences Court in Thunder Bay and was convicted on Aug. 21, 2026, according to a court bulletin issued Oct. 2 by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Justice of the Peace Tobey Meyer imposed the fine. Tianna Gomes was Crown counsel.
The court also applied a 25% victim fine surcharge, as the Provincial Offences Act requires. The bulletin states the surcharge "is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime."
Worker struck while scaling raise wall
The incident occurred on Sept. 22, 2024, at the company's Eagle River Gold Mine in Wawa, Ont. The worker was developing an open raise underground.
The bulletin defines an open raise as "a vertical or inclined opening excavated upward from the lower level to the upper level of the mine."
The worker was scaling the wall from a work platform inside the raise when loose rock fell from the hanging wall, injuring them. The bulletin does not describe the injuries.
Investigators found missing bolts, straps and rebar
A ministry investigation found the raise had inadequate ground support. Approximately five straps, 14 rock bolts and 18 pieces of rebar were missing between the stope brow and the raise's second set of staging, the Ontario government said.
Investigators also found the raise was excavated too narrow. According to the bulletin, this "made it difficult to install the rock bolts needed to keep the ground conditions in the raise safe."
As a result, the Ontario government said, the company "failed to ensure the ground conditions in the open raise were adequately supported and safe for the work being performed."
Conviction tied to mining regulation
Wesdome was convicted under clause 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which requires employers to ensure prescribed measures and procedures are carried out in the workplace.
Subsection 66(1) of Regulation 854 (Mines and Mining Plants) states: "Before work is begun in a workplace in an underground mine, the ground conditions of the workplace shall be examined for dangers and hazards and, if required, made safe."
Ontario has fined other mine operators over underground injuries. DMC Mining Service was fined $120,000 after a 2019 rock fall injured a miner during raise work. CGC Inc. was fined $110,000 after a 2019 rock fall injured two workers scaling. Glencore Canada was fined $120,000 after a 2023 underground fall critically injured a worker.
