No one was injured in the incident and all underground personnel were safely evacuated from the mine using a secondary ramp access, the company reported on Sunday.

The incident occurred on Friday.

Hudbay said in a statement that inspection of the damage to the shaft was under way and that it would take several weeks to fully assess the damage and the remedial work needed.

In the meantime, the company would reassign equipment and personnel to the Lalor mine, in Snow Lake, and it would continue to operate the zinc plant by processing available zinc concentrate inventory, while optimising the production of zinc concentrate from the Snow Lake operations.

“This was an unfortunate event, but we are thankful there were no injuries and that our safety protocols were closely followed. We have an exceptional team in Manitoba who have proven their ability to overcome challenging situations time and time again, and I am confident they will remedy this challenging situation safely and efficiently,” said president and CEO Peter Kukielski.

The 777 mine, producing copper, zinc, gold and silver, is approaching the end of its mine life after 15 years. Final production is anticipated in 2022.