Silver Lake fined $30k for underground incident

Silver Lake Resources has been fined $30,000 over an underground safety incident that occurred at its Daisy Milano gold operation near Kalgoorlie. 

In 2018, a load operator was instructed to enter an exclusion zone that could have been subject to hazardous fumes and rock falls that "could have easily resulted in a fatality", according to WorkSafe. 

No workers were injured in the incident.

The gold and copper miner pleaded guilty at the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Thursday for failing to provide and maintain a working environment where employees and contractors were not exposed to hazards. 

At the time, a load operator was instructed to build a rock embankment at the edge of an open void in a stope, which is an excavated space that contains ore being mined.

Workers were meant to be excluded from entering the stope area due to seismic risks from the recent detonation of explosives at a nearby section of the mine. 

A sign restricting unauthorised access had been removed prior to the worker entering the area. 

Recent explosive activity had also created unsafe gas levels in the area where the loader was operating, according to WorkSafe.

WorkSafe chief inspector of mines Christina Folley said Silver Lake Resources had not adequately managed the risks of working in the area. 

“There were a number of contributing factors, and this incident could have easily resulted in a fatality,” she said. 

“The explosives used in firing a stope emit noxious fumes that at certain levels can be hazardous to the health of workers. 

“Exposure to those fumes at unsafe levels can cause nausea, breathing difficulties, rapid heart rate and loss of consciousness.  

“In serious cases this can lead to asphyxiation and death.” 

Ms Folley said ground instability and the possibility of rock fall were major hazards at any mine. 

“Managers and front-line supervisors must develop safe systems of work and implement the appropriate controls, particularly after firing explosives in underground mines,” she said. 

A Macmahon-employed worker died during an underground mining incident at Silver Lake Resouces' Daisy complex in 2021.

Investigations are still under way.