Employee dies in accident at Sabina Gold & Silver site in western Nunavut
A man driving a dozer is believed to have fallen through the ice
One person is dead after falling through the ice in a dozer while working on the Back River gold project in western Nunavut, where Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. are working to develop a gold mine.
Nicole Hoeller, a spokesperson for Sabina Gold & Silver, said they believe the person fell through the ice approximately six kilometres outside the company's port facility on Bathurst Inlet Monday.
The area is about 400 kilometres from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.
A press release from the mine says the family of the person who died has been notified.
The person was an employee of a company contracted by Sabina Gold & Silver to build a 170 kilometre ice road from the port to the Goose project site.
The road will be used to transport equipment from the summer sealift to the Goose camp. It's being built over land, sea and lake ice, Hoeller said.
The person and the dozer were reported missing at 3 p.m. MT Monday. All other employees returned to camp and were accounted for.
The spokesperson says the RCMP in Cambridge Bay, the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission, and a mine inspector have been notified of the incident and a spill report has been filed.
Sabina Gold & Silver says the mine inspector is expected to arrive on site Wednesday.
All operations at the Back River project have been suspended until further notice.
The death comes just four months after another fatal accident in Nunavut's Kitikmeot region. In September, a 42-year-old contractor from Alberta died in a helicopter crash at a drilling site near Agnico Eagle Mine's Hope Bay gold mine.
Sabina Gold & Silver says it will provide support and counselling to employees and contractors at the camp, as well as all necessary support to the individual's family.