The presence of smoke on the 2800 level of Vale's T-1 mine forced the evacuation of nearly 70 Vale employees as a safety precaution, according to a Vale media release.The smoke was discovered early Monday morning, and as of Tuesday morning, employees have not returned to work at Vale's underground operations at either the T-1 or the T-3 mine.Before employees were escorted to the surface, mine rescue teams ensured the safety of the escape routes.Once the employees had been evacuated, mine rescue and operations teams began working to identify, isolate, and eliminate the source of the smoke. As of Tuesday morning, Vale says these steps were "still in progress."
