Echo Bay charged in death of mine worker

The Nunavut-NWT Workers’ Compensation Board has charged Echo Bay Mines Ltd. with five offences under Nunavut’s Mine Health and Safety Act, in connection with the death of miner David Francis Matthews in December 2001 at the Lupin Mine.

A WCB news release says that the offences allege that the company failed to take every reasonable precaution to ensure the safety of its workers, specifically in the training and in the operation of equipment from a safe location.

If convicted, Echo Bay Mines Ltd. would face a fine of $500,000 for each offence.

The aging, small-scale Lupin gold mine in the Kitikmeot is the last producing mine left in Nunavut.