LaRonde’s state-of-the-art mine rescue vehicle allows for safe sustainable mining at great depths.

The atmosphere in an active underground mine sitting more than 3 kilometres below the earth’s surface can come as a surprise to many. It can often give the impression of a city under construction – full of people, hustle and bustle, lights, wires, and roadway traffic.  

Add to that the challenges of working at such depths – such as seismicity, heat stress and travelling long distances and you can easily see why ensuring the highest level of safety is the top priority for the team at Agnico Eagle’s LaRonde mine.

As the deepest mine in both North and South America, LaRonde needs to ensure it can keep its employees safe at such depths and meet the Quebec government’s stringent mine rescue regulations – namely the ability to reach victims within a certain time limit. As a result, in 2018 the operation decided to purchase a Dräger MRV 9000 – a state-of-the-art mine rescue vehicle and one of only two such machines currently operating in the world.

Christian Goulet, LaRonde’s General Manager, says;” Safety is always first here. We are very proud of our mine rescue team and we want to ensure they have the tools and equipment they need as we mine at deeper and deeper levels. This investment allows us to not only be compliant with the Quebec mine rescue regulations, it maintains the high levels of safety we demand of ourselves.”

The Dräger MRV 9000 is a unique vehicle. Unlike standard mine rescue trucks, all emergency personnel sit inside a closed cabin. Six large compressed air tanks pump clean air into the cabin, protecting passengers from smoke or any airborne toxins. The fresh air inside the cabin means mine rescuers don’t have to wear their respiratory equipment as they travel underground, wasting precious breathable air. Instead, they only need to put their masks on once they reach their destination, step out of the vehicle, and begin their mine rescue operations. This avoids waste of breathable air compressed into their respiratory equipment while travelling to the rescue site, therefore extending their possible use during the intervention before having to refill or change tanks.

Other innovative features make the truck even more efficient, including thermal heat-imaging cameras, which allow the driver and the passengers to detect nearby pedestrians or any victims lying on the ground during an emergency, as well as a highly efficient communication system to make sure they have all the information in a timely manner to act efficiently.   

These safety features complement newly implemented communications technology at LaRonde and are part of an overall strategy to improve health & safety. This began with the deployment of an underground LTE-4G network, which allows for real time communication throughout the mine, and a proximity warning and collision avoidance system that uses radio frequencies to detect individuals, vehicles and hazards underground.

The addition of the truck allows LaRonde to take their safety protocols even further. "This is a new era in deep mining and in mine rescue safety. It’s an investment that not only enhances safety and reduces risk at our mine, it improves the productivity and sustainability of our business. We are challenging ourselves to constantly automate and innovate the deeper we go”, adds Christian.

Being the first mine rescue vehicle of its kind in Quebec, Agnico Eagle worked closely with the CNESST (Committee on Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work), throughout the acquisition process of the truck to integrate its use while being compliant with Quebec’s mine rescue protocols. This ensures worker safety and also paves the way, making it easier for other mining companies who decide to acquire a similar vehicle in the future.

“A new era in mine rescue and workplace safety has begun at LaRonde.”