Vale says 35 trapped workers returned to surface from Totten mine in Canada

On Monday, the Brazilian miner said 39 mine workers had been trapped underground since Sunday at its Totten mine in Sudbury, Canada.

Vale said earlier on Tuesday it expected all employees to surface by late morning, but in an afternoon statement it said that four still remained underground.

The accident at the copper, nickel and precious metals mine occurred when a vehicle transporting the workers was taken offline.

After that, employees went to refuge stations and kept in communication with the company, with access to food and water.

Vale said all rescued workers are in good health.

Vale inherited the then-inactive and water-filled Totten facility in 2006 when the Brazilian company acquired Inco. Vale spent about $700 million to bring the nickel-copper mine into production in 2014.