Evaluation to begin at Vale's Totten Mine after last worker rescued

Sudbury -

Vale and union officials give an update on mining rescue

With the last miner emerging from underground at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday, officials from Vale and the mining workers union provide an update on the mine rescue.

Gord Gilpin, the head of Vale's Ontario base metal mining operations, along with Nick Larochelle, the president of United Steelworkers Local 6500, explained and answered questions from media about the successful rescue efforts of 39 miners that were stuck underground since Sunday morning after the main shaft was damaged by a falling piece of equipment during transportation.

All 39 miners were evacuated through a secondary exit involving a ladder system. Some of the miners had to climb thousands of feet to the surface while others were pulled up using rope rescue equipment.

"This was step one, to get them out safely," Gilpin said. "We are still a ways from transitioning to step two, where we evaluate what went wrong and how we can avoid this in the future."

Once the cheers and fist bumps stopped after the last employee was extracted from the mine, the questions began.

"How is everyone doing? Where's the doctor? Where's the shower and when can I go home," Gilpin said.

The employees will be taken care of with minimal impact on their work and family lives, Larochelle said.

He added the rescued miners will continue to receive medical care for their physical and mental well-being.

"Wery glad to see everyone up and out," the union president said. "But we are still counting on the medical teams to continue to evaluate those who were down there and see that they are going to be ok going forward."

Gilpin said Totten Mine has been closed down and there will be no underground activity for a while as the company investigates the incident.

With files from Brendan Connor, six o'clock anchor for CTV News Northern Ontario.