INVESTIGATION INTO PAXTON MINING DEATHS SHOWS PRESSURE BUMP WAS OVERLOOKED

A report into the deaths of two Hunter Valley miners in 2014, has found a significant “pressure bump”, which appeared in the mine 24 hours before the incident, was overlooked by management.

Philip Grant and Jamie Mitchell were killed in April last year, when a wall collapsed 500 metres underground at the Austar Coal Mine near Cessnock.

A report by the Mine Safety Investigation Unit says the Austar safety management system couldn’t properly respond to the conditions the mine was prone to encounter.

It was the worst mining accident in the region since 1996, when four miners died at the Gretley Colliery, west of Newcastle.
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