Vale SA said on Tuesday 19 of its employees trapped in a Canadian mine returned to surface early this morning and the remainder are on their way.
On Monday, the Brazilian miner said some 39 mine workers have been trapped underground since Sunday at its Totten mine in Sudbury, Canada.
"The remaining employees are expected to be on surface later this morning", Vale said in a statement.
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 have kept communication with the company, with access to food and water.
(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri) ((Arunima.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aru_Kumar94 ;))
