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Charges laid in worker death at Sabina Gold & Silver site in western Nunavut

A mining company and three contractors have been charged with multiple safety violations, one year after a worker in Nunavut died when the dozer he was driving fell through the sea ice. 

Charges include neglecting or refusing to provide information relating to the safety investigation

Containers and mining equipment close to the shore in Nunavut
The port facility at Bathurst Inlet for Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.'s Back River gold project, shown in the fall of 2021. (Sabina Gold & Silver)

A mining company and three contractors are facing multiple charges related to the death of a worker in Nunavut last year. 

The worker died last January when a dozer he was driving went through the sea ice in Bathurst Inlet, about 400 kilometres south of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, and just six kilometres from the company's port. 

The employee was working for a contractor hired to build a 170-kilometre winter road from Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.'s Bathurst Port to its Goose project.

The Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) has filed 10 charges in the Nunavut Court of Justice. All are under the territory's Safety Act and the Mine Health and Safety Act, the commission said in a news release.

Charged alongside Sabina are Matrix Aviation Solutions Inc., Matrix Kitikmeot Ltd., and Gallant Restorations Inc. 

The charges include failure to implement and maintain work practices, failure to ensure the health and safety of all persons at the work site, and neglecting or refusing to provide information relating to the safety investigation. 

The matter will be in court on March 6. 

WSCC declined to offer further comment. 

Shortly after the death, Sabina Gold & Silver said it would provide support and counselling to employees and contractors at the camp, as well as all necessary support to the individual's family.