Mining News: Teck Resources mine rescue teams earn 11 safety awards

The Province of British Columbia recognized two of Teck Resources Ltd.’s coal operations for excellence in mine safety at the 54th Annual Provincial Mine Rescue, First Aid and Safety Awards ceremony held June 6 at Britannia Beach. Teck Coal’s Greenhills Operations won the John Ash Award for achieving the lowest injury frequency rate for mines operating more than 1 million worker-hours in 2008 and the Line Creek Operation received the Edward Prior Award for mines operating between 200,000 and 1 million worker hours, with the lowest injury-frequency rate in 2008.

In addition, the company’s Highland Valley Copper Operation’s three-person miners’ first aid team took first place in that category while the Greenhills Operation placed first in the surface mine rescue competition.

In total, the Greenhills and Highland teams captured awards in five categories.

Teck’s Greenhills Operations, located in southeastern British Columbia, eight kilometers, or five miles, northeast of Elkford, is operated under a partnership agreement with Pohang Steel Canada Ltd. and Teck, with Teck owning 80 percent. The mine site is comprised of 10,892 hectares, or 26,250 acres, of coal lands, of which about 2,200 hectares, or 5,302 acres, are currently being mined or are scheduled for mining from its 89 million metric tons of clean coal reserves.

Teck’s Highland Valley Copper mine is located in southcentral British Columbia near the city of Kamloops. Highland Valley Copper produces copper concentrates and is also a significant producer of molybdenum. Teck has an aggregate 97.5 percent partnership interest in the open-pit truck-and-shovel operation, which employs conventional drill and blast mining methods. The mill uses semi-autogenous grinding and conventional flotation to produce metal in concentrate from the ore.

In other competitions, Teck’s Cardinal River Operation’s team took third place at the Alberta Surface Mine Rescue Competition, and individuals and teams from the Pogo Gold Mine in Alaska and Pend Oreille Operations in Washington State placed in the top three categories in five different events at the Central Mine Rescue Underground Competition held in Idaho.

The mine rescue competitions bring together mine rescue teams to compete in several tasks designed to simulate real-life emergency situations and to test teams’ skills in first aid, extrication, fire fighting, rope rescue and overall mine rescue knowledge.

“These awards demonstrate our commitment to living our values,” said Teck President and CEO Don Lindsay. “Safety is a core value, and we believe achieving zero incidents is possible in the workplace.”

—Mining News