Defunct Ontario mining company fined $1.3 million in 2014 worker deaths

The Ontario government says a now-bankrupt mining company has been fined $1.3 million in connection with the deaths of two workers in 2014.

The Ministry of Labour says First Nickel Inc., was convicted of six charges under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act and mining regulations, after two workers were killed by falling material at the Lockerby Mine in Chelmsford, Ont.

First Nickel received a fine for each charge, totalling $1.3 million, plus a 25 per cent surcharge, which will go to a provincial government fund to help victims of crime.

Officials say the company was found guilty of failing to ensure the mine was free of accumulations or water flow that could endanger workers, among other offences.

The Ministry says the Lockerby mine closed in 2015, and First Nickel went out of business in 2016.