"OM Manganese fined over workplace death of Craig Butler at Bootu Creek mine", 11 October 2023

"A Northern Territory mine has been fined almost half a million dollars over the "tragic and foreseeable" death of a mine supervisor after he was engulfed by a 48,000 cubic meter section of an unstable pit wall in 2019.

The Bootu Creek Mine's operator, OM Manganese, pleaded guilty in September to the single charge of failing to comply with its workplace safety duty, which in turn exposed workers to the risk of death or serious injury...

Workers that morning had observed sediment slipping and rocks falling at the southern end of the wall, prompting the mine supervisor to carry out an assessment.

"Tragically he died at the scene," Judge Thomasin Opie said on Wednesday during sentencing at the Darwin Local Court.

"The debris extended across the pit to a width of 80 metres.

"Two other workers were located in dangerously close proximity but were not physically harmed."..."