An event at an underground gold mine in WA resulted in the tragic death of one worker and the injury of another.
On Wednesday, the contractor passed away at the St. Ives mine in the southeaster Goldfields region, while another contractor was given minimal medical attention.
The occurrence was referred to by South African mining operator Gold Fields as a “devastating loss” for the “tight-knit staff.”
The South East Goldfields region of Western Australia has seen a fatal underground mining operation. Picture of the Gold Fields mine site
According to Gold Fields Australasia Executive Vice President Stuart Mathews, “On behalf of our Gold Fields team, I express my profound condolences to the family, friends, and coworkers of our business partner employee who has gone away.”
For our tight team, especially our underground crew, which has a special kinship, it is a painful loss.
The mine’s emergency services responded to the event and are currently looking into what transpired.
Police and other emergency services have visited the mine site, and a probe into what transpired has been started.
Until the investigation is finished, the St. Ives location has been shut down.
Additionally, WA Police and Worksafe inspectors have been contacted.
According to Gold Fields, it will completely cooperate with law enforcement.
According to Matthews, no additional information will be made public while the inquiry is ongoing and out of respect for the privacy of people who were impacted.
Madeleine King, the federal minister of resources, expressed her sorrow for the incident.
