The company that owns the Western Australian gold mine where a worker was killed late on Tuesday says it will fully cooperate with investigators, describing the incident as a "devastating loss".
- The fatal incident occurred late on Tuesday afternoon at the Hamlet underground mine
- Mining has been suspended as safety inspectors conduct their investigation
- The Hamlet mine, part of the St Ives gold operation, has been in production since 2011
The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety confirmed the worker died at the Hamlet underground mine, part of the St Ives gold operation near Kambalda.
Mines safety inspectors and WA Police are on site investigating the incident.
Authorities say no further information is available at this time.
St Ives is owned by South African mining giant Gold Fields and has been operating since 1981.
In a statement issued to the ABC, Gold Fields executive vice-president of Australasia Stuart Mathews expressed "heartfelt condolences" to the family, friends and work colleagues of the contractor.
"It is a devastating loss for our close-knit team, especially our underground crew who have a unique camaraderie," he said.
"Gold Fields' site emergency response team attended immediately to the incident, and will be commencing an investigation, whilst cooperating fully with the regulatory investigation processes.
"Out of respect for the privacy of those affected by this tragedy, and whilst there are investigations underway, we cannot provide further details.
"All mining operations at our St Ives mine have been suspended, and will resume only once we, and the relevant authorities, are satisfied that work can safely recommence."
Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King also expressed her sympathies to the worker's family and friends.
"Any injury, and particularly a death, is absolutely a tragic occurrence in any workplace," she told the ABC.
"It reminds us of how dangerous the resources sector and mining can be, and the importance of safety in the workplace, and the laser-like focus we have to have on that.
"I just want to offer my commiserations to the family of the worker that has sadly and tragically died, and also to his co-workers and those first responders who will no doubt be subject to grief and trauma for some time to come."
The latest fatality is the first death on a WA mine site since September 30, 2021, when 25-year-old drill and blast operator David Armstrong died at Fortescue Metals Group's Solomon Hub in the Pilbara.
He was engulfed in a ground collapse while stemming a charged shot for blasting in an open pit mine.
That same month, on September 17, a 52-year-old maintenance worker received fatal injuries at CITIC Pacific Mining's Sino Iron mine, near Cape Preston, when he fell from a conveyor walkway to the ground below.
On June 10 last year, Paul Tamati Ereka Martin died after becoming unconscious at the Daisy Milano underground mine, 50 kilometres south-east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.