Fatality statistics in the Western Australian mining industry captures the number of people killed in the industry in the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n state of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. During the period 2000-2012 (inclusive), a total of 52 fatalities occurred. In 2006, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia commissioned a
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
study to analyse the 306 mining fatalities which occurred between 1970 and 2006. The Department of Mines and Petroleum, later renamed the
Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety
The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety is a department of the Government of Western Australia. The department was formed on 1 July 2017, out of the former Department of Mines and Petroleum and Department of Commerce.
A restr ...
, the governing authority for the industry in the state, has published statistics for fatalities in mining dating back to 1943 and intends to publish statistics dating back to 1886, though early records are not expected to be exhaustive.Historical extension to fatalities database DMP website, published: 2009, accessed: 19 February 2011
Categorisation
The department lists the fatality statistics categorised by commodity, date, fiscal year, occupation, causes, report status and type of mining (underground or surface). Records up until 1967 are not categorised by commodity and instead appear as "not categorised" in the listing. Categorisation began in 1967 and almost all fatalities are categorised after 1968.
Omissions
The statistics do not include the
2000 Australia Beechcraft King Air crash
On 4 September 2000, a chartered Beechcraft 200 Super King Air departed Perth for a flight to the mining town of Leonora, Western Australia. The aircraft crashed near Burketown, Queensland, Australia, resulting in the deaths of all eight occup ...
, when a flight to the
Gwalia Gold Mine
The Gwalia Gold Mine is located at Gwalia, a few kilometres south of Leonora, Western Australia. It was originally established by Welsh miners in the late 19th century and Herbert Hoover, the later President of the United States, served as th ...
, with seven
Sons of Gwalia
Sons of Gwalia was a Western Australian mining company that mined gold, tantalum, spodumene, lithium and tin. It was Australia's third-largest gold producer and also controlled more than half the world's production of tantalum,Burketown, where it eventually crashed, having run out of fuel. The pilot and the plane's seven passengers were all killed.Media Release re: Aircraft Accident SGW ASX announcement, published: 5 September 2000, accessed: 8 February 2010
Recent fatalities
The most recent fatalities in the Western Australian mining industry are:
* 12 June 2023: Kieren McDowall, an employee of AAA Asphalt Surfaces, was killed at
Mineral Resources
Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...
Ken's Bore site of its Onslow Iron project.
* 7 February 2023: Jody Byrne (51) was killed at BHP's Boodarie facility, near Port Hedland, having been struck by a locomotive.
* 13 October 2022: Gary Mitchell (59), a machine operator at Capricorn Metals' Karlawinda Gold Mine, was killed when his vehicle was crushed by a large dump truck.
* 11 October 2022: Airleg miner Terry Hogan (37) was killed by a rock fall near a vent rise in Gold Fields' Hamlet underground mine at St Ives, near Kambalda.
* 30 September 2021: David Armstrong (25), a shotfirer, was killed in a ground collapse during open pit mine blasting operations at Fortescue Metals Group’s Solomon iron ore hub.
* 17 September 2021: Scaffolder Eugene Tata (52) fell to his death from a conveyor walkway at CITIC Pacific Mining's Cape Preston project.
* 10 June 2021: Paul Tamati Ereka Martin died after becoming unconscious in Silver Lake Resources' Daisy Milano underground mine at Mount Monger.
* 9 December 2020: Paige Counsell (25), underground truck driver, was struck by a haul truck in the decline of the
Big Bell Gold Mine
The Big Bell Gold Mine is a gold mine located at Big Bell, 24 km north-west of Cue, Western Australia.
, but died while being transported to a Perth hospital by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
* 13 July 2020: Michael Johnson (38), bogger operator at Saracen Minerals' Dervish underground mine at Carosue Dam, died when his machine fell 25 metres down an open stope.
* 7 January 2020: Howard Prosser (64), died from injuries sustained in the accident at the Roy Hill iron ore mine.
* 18 September 2019: Ricky Hanson (57), a truck driver, received fatal head injuries on 11 September while operating the trailer covering system on the second trailer of a road train at Independence Group's Nova nickel-copper mine, 160 km east of
Norseman
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...
.
* 20 June 2019: Andrew Herd (44), haul truck driver, was killed at the Red Hill granite quarry, operated by
Hanson Australia
Hanson Australia is a premixed concrete, aggregates and precast company. Founded in 1949 as Pioneer Concrete and later re-branded to Pioneer International, it was taken over by Hanson in 1999.
History
In 1949, Pioneer Readymix was founded in ...
, near Perth, when his truck fell from the haul road into the pit.
* 15 August 2018: Daniel Patterson (28), haul truck driver, was killed at Rio Tinto's Channar mine near Paraburdoo when his truck veered off the road.
* 26 April 2018: Neville Bentley (42), a face shovel operator, was crushed between the excavator's ladder and handrail at Griffin Coal’s Ewington coal mine, Collie.
* 27 February 2018: Glenn Morton (34), an engineering surveyor, suffered an allergic reaction to a bee sting at Iluka Resources' Cataby mineral sands mine and subsequently died on 12 March 2018.
* 14 October 2017: Steve Fogarty (49), a Rio Tinto Exploration field technician, died at Mount Windell, near
Karijini National Park
Karijini National Park is an List of national parks of Australia, Australian national park centred in the Hamersley Ranges of the Pilbara region in the northwestern section of Western Australia. The park is located north of the Tropic of Caprico ...
, from dehydration and renal failure, while conducting reconnaissance mapping.
* 4 July 2017: David John Keen (51), a drill and blast crew worker, was fatally injured at Rio Tinto's
Yandicoogina mine
The Yandicoogina mine, often shortened to Yandi, is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 95 kilometres north-west of Newman. it should not be confused with BHP Billiton's Yandi mine, which is located nearby.
The ...
due to a non-work related explosives detonation inside a light vehicle.
* 26 July 2016: Lindsay Bridges (60), a boilermaker, working at the Central Norseman gold mine plant inside a thickener tank during a shutdown, was crushed when a corroded gantry above him failed and collapsed.
* 20 June 2016: Lee Buzzard (32), a fitter, died while performing maintenance on a drilling rig at Rio's Channar mine, near Paraburdoo.
* 16 November 2015: Adam Perttula (28), jumbo drilling offsider, collapsed underground in hot conditions at the Paulsens Gold Mine, south of Pannawonica, and died the next day.
* 7 September 2015: Hira Rewita (56) killed when his haul truck rolled over at Cornishman gold mine, Southern Cross.
* 15 May 2015: Joshua Martin (24) crushed between the chargeup basket and the roof of a cross-cut, at Telfer gold mine.
* 11 May 2015: Adam Hardaker (46), an underground bogger operator, was struck by a rock falling from a rill during bogging operations at Aditya Birla Minerals’Nifty Copper Mine.
* 20 January 2015: Philip Kitching (62) was fatally crushed during maintenance work on a bulldozer at Palmary Enterprises' Woodie Woodie manganese mine.
* 26 May 2014: Lance Farber (63) killed operating a forklift at Mikado Mine, Laverton.
* 15 February 2014: Wayne Fowlie (59) killed by a rock fall in the Harlequin Mine, Norseman.
* 29 December 2013: Allen Zuvella (33) was killed in the heavy vehicle workshop at FMG's Christmas Creek mine. The second fatality at the mine in four months.
* 4 December 2013: Stephen Hampton (43), a contractor at the
Newcrest Mining
Newcrest Mining Limited is an Australian-based corporation which engages in the exploration, development, mining and sale of gold and gold-copper concentrate. It is Australia's leading gold mining company and its operations have expanded beyon ...
-owned Telfer Mine was killed while working on the tailings dam.
* 14 August 2013: Kurt Williams (26), an electrician at FMG's Christmas Creek mine was killed when he sustained fatal crush injuries in the crushing plant.Worker dies at FMG's Christmas Creek iron ore minesite http://www.news.com.au, published: 15 August 2013, accessed: 16 August 2013Christmas Creek mine site on notice to improve safety standards Department of Mines and Petroleum website, published: 30 December 2013, accessed: 1 January 2014
* 16 August 2011: Brent Glew (27) was killed at Rio Tinto's
Brockman 2 mine
The Brockman 2 mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 60 kilometres north-west of Tom Price. It should not be confused with Rio Tinto's Brockman 4 mine, also in the area.
, being crushed by a hydraulic cylinder of a front-end loader.Rio Tinto halts mine work after Pilbara death ''
The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
'', published: 17 August 2011, accessed: 25 August 2011
* 24 December 2010: Paul Torre (39), killed while carrying out maintenance on a haul truck, at the Cloud Break mine in the
Pilbara
The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...
, an iron ore mine operated by the Fortescue Metals Group.Iron ore operation suspended after death '' The Herald Sun'', published: 24 December 2010, accessed: 25 December 2010
* 5 August 2010: Rene Ponce (60), miner at the
Norseman Gold Mine
The Central Norseman gold mine is located at Norseman, Western Australia. Norseman lies at the southern end of the Norseman- Wiluna Greenstone Belt, in the Eastern Goldfields Province of the Yilgarn Block, Western Australia.
in the Eastern Goldfields fell while removing ladders in an escape rise.
* 11 April 2010: Wayne Lance Ross (45), an underground loader operator at the Perseverance nickel mine at
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
, operated by
BHP
BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
, drove into an open stope void and fell 25 metres.
* 6 August 2009: Daniel Owen Williams (26), bogger operator, died after falling 25m onto broken rock in an ore pass at Barrick's underground
Kanowna Belle Gold Mine
The Kanowna Belle Gold Mine is a gold mine north-east of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, near the ghost town of Kanowna.
It is operated by Northern Star Resources.
.
* 30 May 2009: A 34-year old workshop fitter died when a bulldozer belly plate fell on him during maintenance work at CITIC Pacific Mining’s Sino iron project at Cape Preston.
* 7 January 2009: Karen Mitchell (54), haul truck driver, died from injuries after falling 3.1 metres to the ground while cleaning the windscreen of her truck, at KCGM's Fimiston Open Pit.
* 25 August 2008: Paul Sparkes (29), was fatally injured while assembling and inflating a heavy earth mover tyre at BHP's Yandi iron ore mine.
* 4 September 2008: Apprentice Adam Sargeant (19), was killed when his light vehicle was crushed by a haul truck at BHP's Yandi iron ore mine.
* 24 June 2008: A 61-year old haul truck driver was fatally injured in a collision with a bulldozer at Mercator Gold's Bluebird Gold Mine near Meekatharra.
* 11 January 2008: Nigel Taylor, a 26-year old rigger died after he became jammed between the boom lift he was operating and the steel structure he was working on at Fortescue Metals' Cloud Break iron ore mine.
Multiple fatalities
Multiple fatalities in the Western Australian mining industry are very rare nowadays and none have occurred since June 2000. Here a list of all multiple fatalities in the industry since 1939:Fatal Accident Reports - By Date WA mining fatalities database, accessed: 19 February 2011
* 2000, 26 June: Three men died as a result of the failure of a sandfill bulkhead at Normandy Mining's Bronzewing Gold Mine, located in the North Eastern Goldfields.
* 1997, 1 September: Two men died from a rockfall in a stope at Western Mining's Victor Decline underground nickel mine, Kambalda.
* 1990, 7 February: Two men, a mining engineer and the managing director of a contracting company, died when a concrete block fell down the raise in the Edwards Find underground gold mine, near Marvel Loch.
* 1989, 13 June: Six men died when a decline at Western Mining's underground Emu Mine, now the
Agnew Gold Mine
The Agnew Gold Mine, formerly the Emu Mine, is a gold mine located west of Agnew, Western Australia. It is owned by the South African mining company Gold Fields. As of 2022, it is one of four mines the company operates in Australia, the others ...
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
, due to lack of oxygen.
* 1978, 9 June: Two men asphyxiated by nitrogen gas while cleaning a cobalt converter vessel at Western Mining's
Kwinana Nickel Refinery
The Kwinana Nickel Refinery is a nickel refinery in East Rockingham and Kwinana Beach, Western Australia. The refinery is operated by BHP and part of its Nickel West operations. Having originally been built by WMC Resources, it changed ownershi ...
.
* 1977, 14 July: Two men died when struck by a Hamersley Iron ore train while doing track maintenance.
* 1977, 27 April: Five men died when a kibble fell down the Agnew No. 1 shaft of Seltrust-
MIM
MIM or Mim may refer to:
Places
* Mim, Ahafo, Ghana
* Mim Lake, Ghana
* Mim Bour, or Mim Mountains, Ghana
Education
* Master of Management, a post-graduate master's degree
* Master of Information Management, an interdisciplinary degree progra ...
's Perseverance underground nickel mine, Leinster, due to a winder malfunction.
* 1975, 28 May: Two men were killed by a rock fall in Poseidon's Windarra underground nickel mine.
* 1974, 13 August: Two men died in a head-on collision of two in an iron ore mine.
* 1960, 12 October: Two men were killed in an underground explosives accident at Ravensthorpe Copper Mines' Elverdton Shaft.
* 1960, 24 August: Two men were killed when they fell from the winder cage in Lake View and Star's Horseshoe No. 2 Shaft, Boulder.
* 1954, 18 November 1954: Two men were killed in an explosion in a magazine at White Rock Quarries, Gosnells.
* 1953, 5 January: Two men died when they were buried by a ground fall in the Baddera Lead Mine, near Northampton.
* 1952, 19 September: Two men died when they were buried by a slime dump at the Ivanhoe gold mine, Boulder.
* 1951, 30 November: Two diamond drillers were killed on the 2,650 ft level of the Hamilton shaft of the Great Boulder mine when they drilled into a pocket of gas that exploded.
* 1951, 5 October: Two men were killed in an explosives accident on the 1600 ft level of the Associated shaft, Lake View and Star mine, Boulder.
* 1951, 1 June: Three men were crushed when a trolley fell to the bottom of the main shaft where they were working, in the Sons of Gwalia underground mine, Leonora.
* 1950, 10 March: Two timbermen were struck by a descending counterweight and fell down the shaft of
Asarco
Asarco LLC (American Smelting and Refining Company) is a mining, smelting, and refining company based in Tucson, Arizona, which mines and processes primarily copper. The company has been a subsidiary of Grupo México since 1999.
Its three larges ...
's Big Bell mine.
* 1950, 13 January: Two men were killed by the air blast from a massive rock fall falling down the shaft of the Big Bell mine.
* 1946, 1 March: Three men were killed in an underground rock fall at the Hill 50 gold mine, Mt Magnet.
* 1946, 23 January: Two men were killed in a blast at the Ora Banda Amalgamated gold mine, Ora Banda.
* 1943, 17 July: Three men died of suffocation underground, two of them while attempting to rescue the third, at the Great Boulder gold mine, Boulder.
* 1940, 19 March: Two miners were crushed by a fall of earth in a stope of the Hannans Star shaft, Boulder.
*1939, 22 February: Three miners were overcome by fumes in a winze at the Maybell gold mine, Norseman.
Fatalities statistics
These are the statistics of fatalities by year, type of mining and commodity, subdivided into decades:
2021 to 2030
Fatalities in the current decade, as of June 2023:
2011 to 2020
Fatalities in the decade 2011 - 2020:
2001 to 2010
Fatalities in the decade 2001 - 2010:
* Only the commodities with fatalities during this decade are listed.
1943 to present
Fatalities by decade:
* ‡ Up until the late 1960s, all fatalities are listed under "not categorised" in the DMP database.
Key
* GD:
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
* IO:
Iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
* NI:
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
* BM:
Base metal
A base metal is a common and inexpensive metal, as opposed to a precious metal such as gold or silver. In numismatics, coins often derived their value from the precious metal content; however, base metals have also been used in coins in the past ...
s
* BA:
Bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...
Clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
* CL:
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
Diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
s
* DS:
Dimension stone
Dimension stone is natural stone or rock that has been selected and finished (e.g., trimmed, cut, drilled, ground, or other) to specific sizes or shapes. Color, texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are also normal requirements. A ...
* MS:
Mineral sands
Heavy mineral sands are a class of ore deposit which is an important source of zirconium, titanium, thorium, tungsten, rare-earth elements, the industrial minerals diamond, sapphire, garnet, and occasionally precious metals or gemstones.
Heavy m ...
* SA:
Salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
* TT:
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
,
Tantalum
Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that is ...
and
Lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...
* OT: Other
* NC: Not categorised
* SM:
Surface mining
Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which ...
* UM:
Underground mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
* All: Overall
Museum of the Goldfields
The Kalgoorlie branch of the Western Australian Museum, known as the Museum of the Goldfields, hosts a series of panels that name every mining fatality in the Kalgoorlie area since establishment of the mines.