Agnico reports contractor fatality near Hope Bay mine

Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM) has reported that an employee of one its contractors has died in an in accident near its Hope Bay gold mine in northwestern Nunavut. Operations at Hope Bay have been temporarily suspended.

The nature of the accident has not been specified, but it occurred around 3 pm on Sept. 14, about 13 km away from the miner's Doris mine facilities. An emergency response team and medic from Hope Bay responded immediately to the incident. An investigation to determine the cause of the accident will be conducted, and both the RCMP in Cambridge Bay and the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission have been notified.

It has been an unusually bad year for mining fatalities at Canadian mining operations. Counting the latest fatality, at least four people have lost their lives on the job in 2021 – most of them contractors.

In August, a worker employed by contractor Barminco died in an incident at Barrick Gold's (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) Hemlo mine in northern Ontario.

In June, a contractor died after a fall at Hudbay Minerals' (TSX: HBM; NYSE: HBM) Lalor underground gold-copper-zinc mine in Snow Lake, Manitoba.

And a contract driller died in a mud rush incident in early February at New Gold's (TSX: NDG) New Afton mine near Kamloops, in British Columbia.

In July 2020, a worker died at Pretium Resources' (TSX: PVG; NYSE: PVG) Brucejack mine near Stewart in northwestern B.C. during maintenance at a support facility at surface.

Hope Bay is a recent acquisition for Agnico Eagle. The gold miner made a friendly offer for the asset's owner, TMAC Resources, in January, after the federal government blocked a takeover of the junior by China's Shandong Gold Mining.