Mine worker dies after accident at Roy Hill

An NRW Holdings mine site worker has died after sustaining serious injuries at the Roy Hill iron ore mine in the Pilbara.

The man worked for NRW Holdings' wholly owned subsidiary, DIAB Engineering, which was acquired by NRW in December as part of the BCG Contracting transaction.

NRW Holdings said the employee had sustained serious injuries from an accident on Monday morning and was subsequently flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Perth for treatment, but died in hospital that night.

NRW has not disclosed the name of the employee at the request of his family.

“We are devastated by the loss of our colleague and extend our sincerest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues," the company said in an ASX announcement today.

“NRW and DIAB are assisting Roy Hill and relevant statutory authorities with the investigation into the accident.”

The Roy Hill iron ore mine is owned by Roy Hill Holdings, chaired by Gina Rinehart, and is situated approximately 344 kilometres south-east of Port Hedland.

Roy Hill Holdings said it was saddened to be advised of the incident.

“This is a tragic loss of life for family, friends and colleagues and we extend our deepest condolences,” Roy Hill said.

“We cannot release details about the person and we ask for respect for their family at this extraordinarily difficult time and allow them to properly communicate this news with their family.”

The company said it would provide further updates in due course.

The announcement follows the death of haul truck driver Andrew Herd, who was killed at Hanson Construction Materials’ Red Hill granite quarry near Perth in June last year after his truck fell from the haul road into the pit.

In August 2018, another haul truck driver, Daniel Patterson, was killed at Rio Tinto’s Channar mine near Paraburdoo when his truck veered off the road.

Earlier that year, face-shovel operator Neville Bentley had died from an accident while working at Griffin Coal‘s Ewington mine in Collie.