Top headlines: Rio Tinto staff die in plane crash on way to diamond mine

financialpost.com:

Rio Tinto Group said a number of its staff heading to the company’s Diavik diamond mine died in a fatal plane crash near Fort Smith, N.W.T.

Four passengers and two crew members were killed in the plane crash. The coroner’s office in the territory said a lone survivor was airlifted to hospital.

The plane was headed to the Diavik Diamond Mine when it went down shortly after take off.

The miner is working closely with authorities to find out exactly what happened, it said in a statement today.

The Transportation Safety Board said the British Aerospace Jetstream passenger plane went down about 740 kilometres south of Yellowknife near the Alberta boundary.

The plane had taken off from Fort Smith’s airport when it lost contact and crashed near the banks of the frigid Slave River.

There was no immediate word on how many people were on board the flight, but the airline’s website said that type of plane can carry 19 passengers.

Rio has been operating Diavik, the biggest diamond mine in Canada, since it started production in 2003, before taking full control of the asset in 2021.

Canada’s main stock index was essentially flat despite strength in energy stocks after the Bank of Canada held its overnight rate steady, while U.S. markets ended on a mixed note after softening throughout the afternoon.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 8.81 points at 21,025.78.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 99.06 points at 37,806.39. The S&P 500 index was up 3.95 points at 4,868.55, while the Nasdaq composite was up 55.97 points at 15,481.92.

The Canadian dollar traded for 74.16 cents U.S. compared with 74.19 cents U.S. on Tuesday.

The March crude oil contract was up 72 cents at US$75.09 per barrel and the March natural gas