Newmont Mining Corp.’s Carlin Mine rescue team has become the first Nevada Reno team to win first place at the National Mine Rescue Competition in Reno. The Carlin team, along with Newmont’s Midas rescuers, beat out 29 other teams from across the country at this year’s event held in early August.
“We congratulate our Carlin and Midas mine rescue teams on their successes at this and other competitions this year,” said Tom Kerr, senior vice president, Newmont North America.
The first two days of competition consisted of skills exercise qualifications. Teams completed mock first-aid scenarios featuring live volunteers posing as injured patients. Team members also demonstrated their skills in checking and setup safety apparatuses. Each field team also had to carefully search for “missing miners” in a mock mine — represented by a course of piping, barriers and written descriptions of ventilation issues and other hazards.
The final field scenario required teams to enter a simulation involving multiple miners trapped in an underground shaft where smoke was reported; Carlin and Midas finished with minimal deductions. In the end, the Carlin team was declared the national champions, giving them the distinction of being the first mine rescue team from Nevada to win that title.
In recent years, Newmont’s rescue teams have worked to heighten emergency preparedness through routine training and study. By training and frequent preparation, they have evolved from site-specific units into regional emergency support teams to help each other — along with teams from miners statewide. Further participation has taken place with county and state agencies in emergency and training activities.
