Second Western Australian mine fatality in a week

IN a horror week for Western Australia mines, a worker has been killed at Newcrest’s Telfer gold mine in Western Australia’s North.

A worker has been killed at Newcrest’s Telfer gold mine in Western Australia’s North, the second mining fatality in WA in a week.

Newcrest said the contractor was working in its underground mine at Telfer when he was fatally injured in an incident on Friday morning.

All operations at the site have been temporarily put on hold.

“We extend our deepest condolences and support to our colleague’s family, friends and the Telfer workforce at this difficult time”, Newcrest said in a statement released on Friday.

The company said investigations into the cause of the incident had started and promised to assist the relevant authorities.

Earlier that week, a worker was killed at Aditya Birla Mineral’s Nifty mine, 350 kilometres east of Port Hedland, on Monday. The man was operating machinery in an underground section of the mine when the incident occurred.

The mining industry has recorded eight fatalities since the beginning of this year. In 2014, the industry recorded a total of 14 fatalities.