Body of Queenstown gold mine worker Cameron Goss recovered

UPDATED: Emergency response teams and mining experts have recovered the body of Tasmanian worker Cameron Goss, who died last month at the Henty Gold Mine.

THE body of a miner killed at the Henty Gold Mine has been recovered today.

In a statement released this morning, Tasmania Police said the body of Queenstown local Cameron Goss had been recovered.

In a separate statement, PYBAR said the body was retrieved at 3am.

Mr Goss, 44, was killed when the earth beneath his loader collapsed in the early hours of January 23.

Police said his body was recovered by the mine’s emergency response team with the assistance of other mining experts from the West Coast and ERT teams from across the country.

Cameron Goss.

“Our thoughts remain with Mr Goss’ family, friends and colleagues. The incident will be

investigated and a report prepared for the Coroner,” the police statement said.

PYBAR chief executive Brendan Rouse praised everyone involved in the recovery for their hard work.

“On behalf of all at PYBAR, I express my deepest sympathies to Cameron’s family and gratitude to all on site for their efforts in this recovery,” Mr Rouse said.

“This has been a very complex operation and the recovery and site teams have experienced intense physical and mental strain over the past weeks. It is an incredibly sad time for all people at the mine and in the community.”

The PYBAR mining services recovery team was planning to retrieve Mr Goss earlier this month and last week announced their first attempt at the “complex and challenging exercise” was unsuccessful.

The Australian Workers’ Union acknowledged the efforts of the mine’s Emergency Response Team over the course of the complex operation.

AWU national secretary Daniel Walton said the union would “continue to work with PYBAR to fully understand what led to this tragic death.”

“We hope this will bring closure to the family of Cameron Goss and allow his loved ones to grieve and remember him,” Mr Walton said.

“Our thoughts are with his family at this very difficult time.”

The Henty Gold Mine site, which is near Queenstown, has restarted limited mine operations at another section of the mine under approval of the coroner and regulator.