Search crew finds body of third Quebec miner, CTV.ca News Staff, nov 03, 2009

It has been a difficult operation to find three missing miners, two bodies have been recovered while a third is still missing and the company says they will continue operations until the last man is found.
CTV National News: Genevieve Beauchemin reports

In northern Quebec, the bodies of two of three miners who were trapped deep underground since Friday were found Monday. The men had gone 450 metres below ground to do repair work on a shaft but ran into trouble when the area began to flood.

The body of a third miner missing in a flooded northern Quebec gold mine since Friday has been recovered, authorities announced Tuesday morning.

The body of 31-year-old Marc Guay was located late Monday night.

Three miners descended into the mine on Friday night to do repair work. While they were underground, the shaft was unexpectedly flooded with water.

When their elevator was pulled back up later that night, the emergency latch was open and the men were not inside.

The bodies of the two other miners, Dominico Bollini, a 44-year-old father of two, and Bruno Goulet, 36, were found on Monday.

Officials had to drain what they described as a small lake at the bottom of the Metanor Resources mine in Desmaraisville, Que. in order to recover the bodies of the first two miners.

They were found in the second-deepest level of the mine, known as level 11. Along with the bodies, three helmets and a lamp were also located.

"When they were able to get in there and search that level they found the other two miners and some pieces of equipment, but not the third miner," CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin told Canada AM on Tuesday morning.

The company has suspended all operations at their Bachelor Lake site, which is about 500 kilometres northwest of Quebec City.

The owners of the gold mine, which was closed in 1993, have been working to reopen the shaft to take advantage of rising precious metals prices.

But it's not without risk. According to the workers' health and safety commission there were 17 deaths in Quebec mines between 2004 and 2008. Five of those were in gold mines, Beauchemin reported.

"It is certain risky work but at this particular mine officials are telling us this is the most tragic event they've had certainly since 2007."

Quebec provincial police and the workers' health and safety commission are investigating.