Parson barite mine receives safety award for small mines

The Parson barite mine in British Columbia recently won the 40th annual Small Mine Safety Award for the third consecutive year.

The Parson operation, privately owned by Mountain Minerals of Lethbridge, Alta., was one of six small underground mines throughout British Columbia vying for the award.

For Parson, it was the mine’s fourth win; it received the award for the first time in 1985. Its latest honor ties the consecutive-year record set in 1954 by the Violamac mine.

Bill Boreham, mine superintendent of the small underground operation 35 km south of Golden, B.C., accepted the award at a banquet in Nelson, B.C., from the provincial government’s mines inspection manager, Dick Fyles. The mine’s safety record for 1990 was one lost-time accident, resulting in five lost work days.

The competition was started in 1951 to encourage and promote safety through recognition of the underground mine having the lowest accident frequency rate. To qualify, the mine must have 10-100 employees or have worked 2,500-30,000 man-shifts during the year, one third of the shifts must be worked underground and the mine must have operated for at least nine months during the year. The mineral barite has a number of applications, including in such products as golf balls, paints and foam; in drug and X-ray preparations; and in oil well drilling.