‘Tragic [mining] milestone’ – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – May 26, 2015)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

BLACK RIVER-MATHESON – It appears Alexie Dallaire-Vincent may be the first woman to die on the job in an underground mine in Ontario. The 22-year-old tram operator at the SAS St. Andrew Goldfields Holt Mine, was killed Saturday afternoon, according to the Ontario Ministry of Labour

It was reported the woman, a native of the Kirkland Lake area, died from injuries after being struck by an ore-haulage car on the 925 level in that mine, located east of Matheson.

A number of local veteran mining inspectors and investigators reached by The Daily Press on Monday said they could not recall a previous incident in which a woman died on the job, working underground in an Ontario mine.

“I’m not sure, to be honest with you, but I do believe that is the case,” said Ministry of Labour district manager Pete Lefebvre, who is also a former mine rescue officer.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour communications office in Toronto could not confirm it, as the ministry does not keep gender-based statistics, said spokesman William Lin.

MP Charlie Angus (NDP — Timmins-James Bay) who is an author and local historian, said he believes this is in fact the first death of a woman miner and described it as a “tragic milestone” in Ontario’s mining history.

He said he believed the woman is from Virginiatown and he planned to contact her family to pay his respects.

“I think we are all going to take time to pause and reflect on this tragedy, partly because she was so young and also because she is the very first woman who has ever been killed underground. That is certainly a tragic milestone,” he said.

For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.timminspress.com/2015/05/25/tragic-milestone