The North Parkes Mining Disaster, NSW (1999)

Four miners killed in Australian mine disaster

By Terry Cook 2 December 1999

The accident that claimed the lives of four mine workers on November 24 at the Northparkes copper and gold mine near Parkes, in central west New South Wales, again focuses attention on the issue of safety standards in the mining industry.

The four men, Ross Bodkin 41, Michael House 33, Stuart Osman 47 and Colin Lloyd-Jones 41, were killed instantly when millions of tonnes of ore and earth collapsed suddenly causing a catastrophic air blast through an access tunnel in which they were working 140 metres below ground.

The collapse extended hundreds of metres right up to ground level. The resulting wind blast was so powerful that it ripped apart the two-tonne Toyota Land Cruiser carrying two of the men and spread shattered metal and wreckage over a kilometre along the mine shaft.

One of the mine's engineers said: "Normally not much ore falls down. This time it appears a huge amount fell. There would have been a massive blast of air and even if the miners had been some distance away, there would have been nowhere for the air to escape. It was like being trapped in a piston.”

The incident could easily have resulted in a greater loss of life. Another 57 men were carrying out maintenance work on mining and crushing equipment in the control room some 300 metres below the access shaft. The blast caused the ground to shake around them. They were forced to remain underground for over three hours while rescue teams sought to determine whether it was safe for them to exit.

Northparkes is the only underground mine in Australia using a method of ore extraction known as block caving. The technique consists of creating a void in the ground under a core of ore. Miners precipitate a movement in the ore body through gypsum cracks producing what is known as a "controlled collapse". The conglomerate above then falls into the void where the ore is recovered through points at the base that are serviced by protected access tunnels.

After the mine first opened, the management claimed that the operation had the potential for becoming the “lowest cost underground hard rock operation” in the country. When a “controlled collapse" is in progress there is normally a crew of about six men and the process is done largely by remote control. The team is located in the protected control room.

A company spokesman confirmed that the accident took place during a maintenance shutdown and that there was no mining taking place at the time. He said that the company had no explanation for the unexpected collapse, saying, "on this occasion the body of ore decided to move itself”. He claimed that there had been no prior indications. The matter is now the subject of several investigations.


KEITH'S CONNECTION

Ross Bodkin is my wife Jane's brother. Ross was the second of the four children of Bill and Shirley Bodkin of Clyde, Central Otago (the others being sisters Ann, Jane and Sally). The full name of my third son 'Sam' is Samson Ross Johnson Bodkin & he was born on the third anniversary of the death of his Uncle Ross.