Photo: Supplied / Google Maps
A miner pinned underground during a rockfall at the Ballarat Gold Mine at Mount Clear near Ballarat has died.
The 37-year-old Bruthen man, who was trapped deep underground, has not survived and specialist mine extraction teams recovered his body on Thursday.
Police have revealed 30 miners were caught in the rock collapse at the mine site on Woolshed Gully Drive at Mount Clear around 4.50pm on Wednesday.
Two men were injured, including a 21-year-old Ballarat man who was extracted by mine rescue teams around 8.30pm last night and flown to hospital in Melbourne with life-threatening injuries to his lower body.
He remains in a critical condition at The Alfred Hospital.
"The location of the incident is about 500 metres underground, about 3 kilometres into the mine," Acting Inspector Lisa Macdougall said last night.
Macdougall said 28 of the miners made it to a safety pod within the mine network and family members were being supported by Victoria Police.
The injured miner was extracted from another area of the mine.
'Death could have been avoided'
Australian Workers Union Victorian branch secretary Ronnie Hayden said the workers were performing an underground manual style of mining known as "air legging" when the rockfall occurred.
"This death could have been avoided," he said.
He said air legging had not been performed at the Ballarat mine for years and said most mines had stopped doing it because it was unsafe.
"So they've just actually introduced this early this year," Hayden said.
"We've raised issues several times in the past about workers working under unsupported ground.
"We certainly would be expecting our workplace manslaughter laws to take effect because of this."
Victory Minerals operates the mine that comprises tunnels and shafts stretching below houses at Mount Clear.
The company has been contacted about the union claims.
More than 30 emergency service workers attended the site overnight.
Worksafe is investigating the incident and Victoria Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
A virtual tour of the mine on its website shows a large underground operation with many shafts, large caverns, vehicles, and workers.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan posted about the collapse last night on social media site X, formerly Twitter.
"I'm thinking of every worker and every family who's impacted by the Ballarat mine incident," she said.
Ballarat City mayor Des Hudson said the mine accident was the latest in a long list of challenging events for the Ballarat community, including the continued search for missing Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy.
"We are a resilient community, we look after one another, and we come together to support one another, and I have no doubt that our community will absolutely do the same while this issue at the gold mine is being worked through," Hudson said.
Troubled history
The Ballarat Gold Mine has struggled in recent years.
In March 2023, the previous company operating the mine fell into administration, leading to a lengthy process as administrators prepared to sell assets.
At the time, the Australian Workers Union raised concerns about worker safety, saying it had been "compromised" under the previous ownership.
The ABC understands that in late 2023 a deal was made to sell the mine to Tomson Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company.
Prior to the company falling into administration in 2021, Victoria's mining regulator had put the previous operators of the mine on notice after a tunnel collapse.
At the time, the ABC learned that 600 tonnes of rock had collapsed into a tunnel in March 2021.
In 2007, 27 workers at the mine became trapped after a tunnel collapsed 700 metres underground.
All 27 workers were rescued after being lifted to the surface via a ventilation shaft.
This story was originally published by the ABC.