A fire took place at Doray Minerals’ gold-copper mine around 50km south of Yalgoo in Western Australia last week. The fire started at a remotely controlled loader underground.
The company said all workers were safe and uninjured.
At the time of the incident, 11 underground workers went to their closest emergency refuge chamber in line with the company’s standard safety procedure. They were later escorted out of the mine by the site’s emergency response team.
During the company’s investigation into the extent of the fire, Doray halted all underground operations at the mine.
Doray Minerals managing director Leigh Junk said, “As unwelcome as Wednesday’s incident was, the safe and orderly resolution demonstrates the high quality of Deflector’s emergency response capabilities and Doray’s entrenched safety culture.”
After a safety inspection has been thoroughly conducted to confirm that a re-entry was safe, the mine began to resume its operation last Friday.
Junk said, “Our first priority will always be the safety of our people. The decision to resume mining was only taken because the workplace has been confirmed safe.”
He said the two-day interruption to underground mining would not affect Deflector’s production guidance. This is because the mine continued to process stockpiled ore during the period.
“This is a very pleasing recovery following Wednesday’s fire incident,” Junk said.
Doray is continuing its investigation into the cause of the fire.