Three workers were airlifted from the Cantung mine in the Northwest Territories to Whitehorse General Hospital on Monday following a propane explosion.

The workers, all Yukoners, suffered first- and second-degree burns from the explosion. Their names were not released.

The blast took place at approximately 9 a.m. in an above-ground mechanical room, Tanya Fraser, the communications officer for the N.W.T.'s Workers' Compensation Board, said in an interview today.

The three men were stabilized before the medivac to Whitehorse, she added.

Upon arriving at the hospital, two of the man were treated and released, said Val Pike, the hospital's community liaison nurse.

The third man, a 51-year-old Whitehorse resident, is still in hospital and is being treated for first- and second-degree burns on his hands and face, said Pike.

The workers' compensation board's inspector of mines and the N.W.T.'s gas inspector have been at Cantung investigating the explosion. They just returned to Yellowknife this morning to continue going over the evidence they collected, said Fraser.

It will take months for them to come to a conclusion about what happened and where the fault lies, she said. The government gas inspector will need to provide a report before the board continues to move forth with their investigation, she added.

The actual length of the investigation will likely depend on the severity of the explosion, said Fraser.

The mine is owned by North American Tungsten and is located near the N.W.T-Yukon border. The access road begins in southeast Yukon.

The mine closed down in December 2003 following several major customers pulling out of contracts with the company. However, a worldwide shortage of tungsten and record high prices for the material in international markets spurred the mine's reopening earlier this month.

North American Tungsten Corp. Ltd. had hoped to have the mine running at full production by the end of this summer. Cantung is one of the largest producers of tungsten in the Western world.

The material is used in light bulbs, television sets, microwave ovens and other electrical products.

The explosion occurred while the men were working on 'rehabbing the bunkhouse,' Steve Leahy, chair and CEO of North America Tunsteng, said in an interview this morning.

'These are every experienced people, so we just don't know,' said Leahy of the incident.

A crew is on-site working to prepare the mine for its expected reopening in August.

Leahy said the bunkhouse sustained some damage in the blast, but is still standing.

The incident is not expected to affect the timeline for the reopening, he said. Right now, the concern is with their workers' safety and determining what happened, he added.

'Our first priority was getting our people out and to safety,' he said.