Mine operator expresses ‘relief’ after Mt Lyell death charges dropped

CHARGES against Copper Mines of Tasmania relating to the death of a Mt Lyell miner have been dropped.

The entrance to Copper Mines of Tasmania’s Mt Lyell mine.

CHARGES against Copper Mines of Tasmania relating to the death of a Mt Lyell miner have been dropped.

CMT had pleaded not guilty to a charge of failing to comply with Health and Safety duty category 2 in relation to the death of miner Michael George Welsh, 53, in a mud rush at Mt Lyell on January 17, 2014.

It was the second round of workplace charges against CMT after it was fined $225,0000 in December last year over the deaths of two other workers, Alistair Lucas and Craig Gleeson, also at Mt Lyell.

The Director of Public Prosecutions this morning withdrew the workplace safety charge.

After two weeks of hearings in Burnie, with a further two weeks scheduled for Hobart, the DPP declined to offer any further evidence.

CMT general manager Peter Walker said the thoughts of the company remained with Mr Welsh’s family.

“We understand that these legal proceedings have been difficult for Michael’s family,” Mr Walker said.

“From me personally and on behalf of everybody in the company, we are sorry for what happened.

“It was a very complicated matter involving our main underground contractor, forces of nature deep underground as well as important legal issues as to how WorkSafe Tasmania prosecuted the charges.

“There is no pleasure gained from this result, but only relief that it is finally over.”

Mr Walker said the company would now focus on reopening the mine, which has been under care and maintenance for three years.

“We have always been confident that CMT had robust systems and processes to properly manage this particular underground risk and we always believed that evidence would support this,” he said.

“The decision by the DPP not to proceed further confirms our belief.

“We look forward to a restart of the mine as soon as possible. We are continuing with our restart studies and with a buoyant world copper price, it’s looking positive.”