RENO - Federal regulators have fined Newmont Mining Corp. more than $500,000 for safety violations they say contributed to the death of a worker at an underground gold mine in Nevada.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration also announced Tuesday that four supervisors for the Denver-based mining company have agreed to pay a combined $60,000 in individual penalties for their role in the accident at the Midas Mine north of Elko in June 2007.
The agency said managers "showed a disregard for the miners' welfare" before the victim fell through a level of the mine while operating a loader. It said several Newmont employees were aware of safety deficiencies at the time but continued to require miners to work in hazardous areas.
An administrative law judge for the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission approved the penalties for the violations, including failure to provide adequate controls to guard against cave-ins and failure to provide adequate barricades and signs to warn miners about the hidden hazards of sinkholes.
In addition, Newmont was cited for impeding MSHA's investigation of the accident by failing to provide maps and other documents, as well as failing to report the entrapment within the required 15 minutes.
The first-line supervisor, two general foremen and the engineer in charge agreed to pay the $60,000 for their roles in the "flagrant ground control violation," the agency said. Their names were not immediately released.
The 30-year-old victim, Dan Shaw, and the loader he was operating fell through the floor of one level of the mine on June 19, 2007 while working to use a mixture of concrete to backfill a space that had been left open after ore was removed during the underground mining process, MSHA said. His body was not recovered until July 2.
Newmont spokesman Matt Murray said company officials were in a meeting Tuesday afternoon and unable to immediately comment.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment