by Helen Solmes
Mosaic Potash emergency crews worked more than 22 hours to recover the body of one of their coworkers who was buried in raw potash ore when a storage bin on surface in the mill gave way on Nov. 28 at the Mosaic Potash Esterhazy K2 mine site, killing 28-year-old Thomas Merritt and injuring his coworker Todd Shire.
At approximately 2 a.m., the bottom of a cone-shaped bin holding raw potash ore let go, spewing an estimated 500 tonnes of raw ore. Forty-year old Shire was spared the brunt of the impact; however, Merritt was crushed under the potash ore. Emergency response crews had to dissolve the water soluble ore and sift through it to retrieve the body, according to Chandra Pratt, Mosaic Potash Esterhazy Human Resource Manager.
The structural integrity of the 40-year-old mine came under question last May when a gallery that transports ore from the head frame to the mill collapsed. No one was in the gallery and no one was injured in the incident. The company undertook a major inspection of all structural steel components at that time.
“Obviously we didn’t catch this one,” Pratt told The Miner-Journal last week. “This storage bin is the original storage bin. Inspections are done frequently and the structural steel in the mill has been regularly replaced.”
Shire and Merritt were working a midnight shift and assigned to the storage area to hammer at the bin to dislodge the potash ore as the ore flowed downward through the cone-shaped bin onto a conveyor belt. “It is common practice for employees to bang on the bin,” Pratt said.
Merritt was the husband of Vicki Merritt and father to two children, ages seven and four.
Shire was transported to Regina General Hospital where he was stabilized. He suffered minor injuries including a broken nose, and assessed for internal injuries, according to a family member.