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A mine rescue team formed from the Gahcho Kué Project Emergency Response Team won two prestigious categories in their impressive debut.

The team captured top honours in the Surface Bench and Surface Smoke competitions. The annual competition was held June 10-11 in Yellowknife.

The Gahcho Kué squad was among six teams from five mines to take part in the annual event, sponsored by the Workers Safety and Compensation Commission of the NWT & Nunavut. Challenges in the competition included firefighting, first aid, rope rescue, surface and underground obstacle challenges and underground smoke. Gahcho Kué General Manager Allan Rodel, who attended the event in support of his team, said it was an incredible accomplishment.

“To have the Gahcho Kué Mine Rescue Team win two awards before the Project even enters production speaks to the high quality level of training that is taking place at site. Even more remarkable is to achieve this in the incredibly short time frame in which the team had to prepare against some very experienced and talented competition. They’ve made all of us very proud.”

Team captain Richard Church said his colleagues worked very hard on not just the techniques, but also working as a true team.

“The team gave it everything they had coming out of the blocks in their first year competing and did a very good job of staying focused and pulling together. It was a real team effort from a great crew that will make sure this safety success continues at the mine.”

The Gahcho Kué Project is a joint venture between De Beers Canada (51% - the Operator) and Mountain Province Diamonds (49%). The operation is located about 280 km northeast of Yellowknife, NWT, is expected to go into production in the second half of 2016.