By Dewi Cooke and Rosanna Bonaccurso
The Age
Copyright 2007 The Age Company Ltd.
BENDIGO, Australia — A miner was critically injured and 10 others taken to hospital after they were exposed to toxic gases at a goldmine near Bendigo.
The men had re-entered Fosterville Goldmine, operated by Perseverance Corporation, after underground rock blasting yesterday afternoon.
They suffered breathing problems and had to be helped to the surface. Mine manager Mark Mitchell said none were wearing breathing equipment at the time because it was not normally needed.
A rural ambulance spokesman said the men had breathed in nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and, possibly, carbon monoxide.
Paramedics arrived at the Fosterville mine, about 20 kilometres east of Bendigo, about 5pm and treated the men with oxygen for respiratory distress.
Ten were taken by ambulance to Bendigo Hospital while another man, 41, was airlifted to Royal Melbourne Hospital in critical condition.
Mr Mitchell said the men were carrying out routine “underground firing” when they were exposed to the gases.
Explosives were regularly used to blast rock in the mine.
He said firing occurred during worker shift breaks and the mine’s ventilation system should have kept the air filtered.
Fosterville’s operations general manager Jozsef Patarica said the mines were inspected for toxic gases after the controlled explosion underground, but the inspection failed to identify the gases.
Mr Patarica said this was the first time an incident of this nature had occurred.
“The incident was handled very well,” he said.
“We’re trained to do regular crisis management training, and it was that training that made sure it worked as good as it did.”
The Department of Primary Industries was helping with the investigation.
The mine is expected to re-open tomorrow.
Perseverance Corp is Victoria’s biggest gold producer, with operations at Fosterville and Stawell.
Open-cut mining began at Fosterville in 1992, but in mid-2006 the operation changed to underground mining to tap a high-grade 1 million-ounce gold resource.
Fosterville is Victoria’s second biggest gold mine after Stawell, with annual production of about 80,000 ounces.
Australian Workers Union state secretary Cesar Melhem said the union hoped that it would be involved in any investigations into the incident.