EIGHT CHARGED IN DRUG SWEEP AT MINE

"This Just Proves There Is A Problem"

Some drug users at Nunavik's Raglan mine got a rude surprise on Aug.
31 as police swooped down on the Kattiniq site and walked off with
several stashes of hash oil, steroids, marijuana, drug paraphernalia
and a small quantity of cocaine.

Four officers from the Kativik Regional Police Force, an officer with
the Aboriginal Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit from Montreal
and a dog master started searches in the afternoon at the Donaldson
Airport and continued on into the evening at the mine's Kattiniq complex.

KRPF chief Brian Jones said the police "had an idea" of where to go in
their search and seizures.

During the bust, eight male Raglan employees were arrested. Jones said
they will be charged with offenses varying from trafficking to
possession. One resident from Salluit is among those charged. All are
now off the mine site, pending the result of the investigation and
charges.

"This is an ongoing operation we've been conducting with Raglan,"
Jones said. "This is something we have been trying to do for quite a
while."

Many of those arrested had hidden their drugs in their rooms -- in the
suspended ceiling, tool boxes or under beds.

As police officers and a drug-sniffing dog walked around the Kattiniq
complex, KRPF Capt. Larry Hubert, who participated in the bust, said
they attracted a lot of interest from workers.

Hubert said police searched only a few rooms to come up with a wide
variety of drugs.

"There is a problem with drugs there." Hubert said. "This just proves
there is a problem."

There are 83 Inuit working at the Raglan Mine, according to statistics
presented at a recent Kativik Regional Government council meeting.
They're part of a workforce that includes 423 non-Inuit.

Raglan routinely conducts searches of employees leaving the mine at
the airport -- to make sure they aren't walking off with nickel -- but
does not generally search incoming employees.

Raglan does have a zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol on the mine
site, although alcohol was not the focus of last week's operation.

"We do have a strict zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol on the mine
site. It's there for a couple of reasons," said Ian Hamilton, director
of communications and public affairs, for Raglan's parent company,
Falconbridge Ltd.

"First and foremost, there's the safety of the employers, and we're
not going to tolerate any illegal activity on the property. We do work
in collaboration with the authorities to ensure our policy and the law
are upheld."

A notice to employees sent out last week in French and English after
the bust repeated this message.

"You are reminded that Raglan has a zero tolerance policy towards
drugs and alcohol which was upheld by tribunals," a notice reads.
"Over the years, many small quantities of drugs gave been confiscated
at Raglan. We have to take actions to stop these activities."

The notice repeated three reasons Raglan supports a drug and alcohol
free environment:

- - an obligation to provide a safe work environment: "the circulation
of such substances on the site would pose a risk to the safety of our
workers;"

- - an engagement towards Inuit partners to have a site without drugs
and alcohol: "we certainly do not want for Raglan to be a gateway for
drugs to enter Nunavik;"

- - the possession of drugs is a criminal act: "we believe that
perpetrators should be brought to justice."

Falconbridge wouldn't discuss the specifics of last week's seizures
while the cases are under police investigation, and didn't want to
spell out what the company plans to do to back up their policy and
hang on to their top safety record.

For several years, Raglan has picked up the provincial F.J. O'Connell
trophy for workplace safety in Quebec.

Generally, drugs and alcohol abuse ups the chances of workplace
accidents and lower productivity at mine sites.

Uncertainty, lack of control and excessive demands are all stresses
faced by miners, say studies. These are worsened when workers fear
accidents or death due to the hazards of their jobs.

In South Africa, one of the top mining nations in the world, alcohol
and drug abuse in the mining industry has been estimated at 25 per
cent or more. Stressful working conditions underground and heavy
workload contributes to substance abuse, which, a recent study says,
may serve as "a coping mechanism."

The study says alcohol was used to cope with stress, relax, socialize,
and relieve boredom, while marijuana was said to help cope with
stress, provide energy to cope with the physical demands of mine work,
and to help think better.

Miners with low levels of education and low jobs were more likely to
use alcohol and drugs.

Mining industry officials, mine operators and coal miners in the
United States have reported that drug abuse in mines there is
widespread. Many mine operators voluntarily conduct pre-employment
drug screening and random, on-the-job drug testing.

Drug abuse in the workplace made news in Frankfort, Kentucky, after a
coal mining disaster that happened three years ago many have been
linked to the drug use. One miner who survived told accident
investigators that others were snorting painkillers on the job, and a
miner killed in the accident had drugs in his bloodstream.