The operators of a Co Tyrone gold mine have been fined £120,000 after admitting to health and safety failures during a mine collapse in 2018.
Flintridge Resources Limited, which operate the Cavanacaw Mine in Omagh, pleaded guilty to the health and safety failings after workers at the mine narrowly avoided injury during the collapse four years ago.
The Health and Safety Executive led the prosecution against the mine operators, with the company appearing before Dungannon Crown Court to face the charges.
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The HSE argued that employees at the mine were exposed to risk as a result of falling rocks from the roof of an underground roadway within the mine.
The mine then flooded, with employees further exposed to a risk of drowning.
Following the guilty plea and six-figure fine being handed down to the company, HSE NI principal inspector Brian Pryce said the incident could have resulted in fatalities.
“Mine operators must ensure that suitable ground control measures and precautions are in place to prevent falls of ground and inrushes,” Pryce said.
“These measures and precautions must be continually monitored and reviewed.
“The failure of the mine operator to ensure that suitable measures were put in place resulted in employees being exposed to unnecessary risk which could have resulted in fatalities”.
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