TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX Venture Exchange-listed Metanor Resources is working closely with authorities, after a search for three missing men at its Bachelor Lake mine, in Quebec, ended on Monday night with the discovery of the third body.

The company has yet to establish the circumstances of the accident, which occurred on October 30, while the men were working on the rehabilitation of the mine shaft.

Two of the deceased were employees of Metanor, and the third worked for contractor Montali.

Metanor said that it had received assistance from neighbouring mining companies and suppliers to speed up pumping of water out of the flooded mine, during the efforts to locate the trapped workers.

The company did not say how its production plans would be affected by the accident.

The Bachelor Lake operation was mined during the 1980s. After lying dormant, it was dewatered in the winter of 2004/5, and exploration has been under way since.

Metanor currently produces gold from ore mined at the nearby Barry openpit and from ore processed at the Bachelor Lake facility.

It has been working on rehabilitating and dewatering a section of the old Bachelor Lake mine, and had planned to restart mining operations next year.

By July 2010, the firm had aimed to be producing approximately 70 000 oz/y, with the mill operating at 1 200 t/d with 700 t/d coming from Bachelor Lake and 500 t/d from the Barry openpit.

Shares in Metanor Resources, which plunged 22% on Monday, recovered a little ground on Tuesday, rising 3,3%, to C$0,47 apiece by 12:17 in Toronto.

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