Flintridge Resources Ltd was fined £120,000 after pleading guilty to exposing mine workers to risks from rock fall and drowning in Cavanacaw gold mine near Omagh, Northern Ireland.
UNSTABLE
In mid-November, the Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland (HSENI) prosecuted the company at Dungannon Crown Court for health and safety failings.
“In July 2018, mine employees were exposed to risk as a result of a fall of rocks from the roof of an underground roadway within the mine,” said HSENI in a statement.
“The unstable portion then migrated to the surface causing an inrush of water to enter and flood a portion of the mine, further exposing employees to the risk of drowning.”
PRECAUTIONS
HSENI principal inspector Brian Pryce said that mine operators must ensure that suitable ground control measures and precautions were in place to prevent falls of ground and inrushes.
“These measures and precautions must be continually monitored and reviewed.
“The failure of the mine operator to ensure that suitable measures were put in place resulted in employees being exposed to unnecessary risk which could have resulted in fatalities.”
The HSENI added that in recent years falls of ground and inrushes had caused the greatest loss of life in UK mines.
Flintridge is the local subsidiary of Cavanacaw’s Canadian owner Galantas Gold Corporation.