Mining Deaths in Herberton area
Mine: Herberton Gold Fields
Date of Incident: 31st August 1882
Miners Name: Scott
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst fixing the detonating cap with his teeth, thereby causing it to explode.
Mine: Great Northern Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 13th August 1884
Miners Name: J H Zuig
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when drilling out a charge of dynamite and some granite debris had fallen into the hole.
Mine: Bismarck, Watsonville Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 29th May 1889
Miners Name: Hans Ch. L Pederson
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured from an explosion through using an iron tamping rod.
Mine: West Albion, Mt Albion, Herberton Gold Fields
Date of Incident: 3rd October 1889
Miners Name: John Graham
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he fell from a ladder. Died on the 6th October 1889.
Mine: Hannam Silver Mine, Herberton Gold Field
Date of Incident: 3rd June 1890
Miners Name: John Hopkins
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured from a fall of rock.
Mine: Sullivan's Claim, Herberton Gold Fields
Date of Incident: 31st January 1891
Miners Name: John Comerford
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured from a fall of rock.
Mine: Paisley (Muldiva) Mine, Walsh Gold Field
Date of Incident: 18th September 1892
Miners Name: Cornelius Murphy
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when a prop fell on him which had been insecurely fixed.
Mine: Paisley (Muldiva) Mine, Walsh Gold Field
Date of Incident: 7th October 1892
Miners Name: William Kelly
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured from a fall of rock.
Mine: Girofla Mine, Chillagoe
Date of Incident: 21st February 1901
Miners Name: Mitch O'Halloran; Chas P Allen
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Two men were fatally injured whilst lowering a pump in the shaft and the beam from which it was suspended was not made fast causing the tackling to collapse and the whole plant fell to the bottom.
Mine: Mount Garnet Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 23rd September 1901
Miners Name: James Thivell
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he fell down an unprotected open-topped winze.
Mine: Mount Garnet Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 18th December 1901
Miners Name: J Walker
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured from blasting operations.
Mine: Mount Garnet Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 26th February 1902
Miners Name: C Manning
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst mullocking in the slopes and they collapsed.
Mine: Mount Garnet Mine, Herberton Gold Field
Date of Incident: 12th June 1902
Miners Name: J Hale
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured from a fall of rock whilst mullocking the slope.
Mine: Cecil (Hodgkinson) Mine, Heberton Gold Field
Date of Incident: 17th February 1903
Miners Name: M T Roberts
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst working off the effect of a shot when a heavy fall occurred.
Mine: Hobson Mine (Calcifer), Herberton
Date of Incident: 16th July 1903
Miners Name: William Connor; John Taylor; Alfred Wheeler
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Three men were fatally injured when a stone fell into a hole which was charged above where the men were working. The operator tried to remove it with an iron hook and the charge exploded, throwing debris onto the men below.
Mine: Vulcan Mine, Herberton Gold Field
Date of Incident: 24th July 1903
Miners Name: James Maher
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst charging with a steel or iron rammer and an explosion took place.
Mine: Russell Claim, Herberton
Date of Incident: 6th April 1904
Miners Name: J Ramsay
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured from a fall of ground whilst hydraulic sluicing.
Mine: Nellie Mine (Redcap), Herberton
Date of Incident: 9th January 1905
Miners Name: William Amer
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when bars were not placed back across the shaft and when he was returning with an empty truck he fell down the shaft.
Mine: Ruddygore Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 23rd May 1905
Miners Name: A Gowmer
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst charging a hole and was pressing down on the charge with a wooden tamping rod when the charge exploded.
Mine: Smith's Creek Proprietary (Nymbool), Herberton
Date of Incident: 17th July 1905
Miners Name: Evan William Hughes
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when bars were not placed back across the shaft and he fell 100 feet from no. 2 to no. 3 level.
Mine: Zillmanton Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 18th January 1906
Miners Name: P Marsden
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst working in the sink below the 350 feet level when he was struck on the forehead by a plank which had been thrown by the platman from a cross-cut into the 350 feet plat.
Mine: Chillagoe Smelters, Herberton
Date of Incident: 16th March 1906
Miners Name: P Burke
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he called to assist at lead skimming and walked into the pot of molten lead.
Mine: Penzance (Redcap) Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 29th August 1906
Miners Name: William Power
Sex: Male
Occupation: Shift Boss
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he bulled a hole in the open-cut twice within a few minutes and then started loading it. When partly loaded, the charge exploded owing to the heat generated by bulling.
Mine: Queenslander Mine (Redcap), Herberton
Date of Incident: 13th February 1907
Miners Name: John Lyons
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured due to an explosion.
Mine: Chillagoe Smelters, Herberton
Date of Incident: 28th February 1907
Miners Name: John Johnson
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured whilst at work at the front of the smelter shed and the end of a steel rail struck him in the abdomen
Mine: Vulcan Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 11th June 1908
Miners Name: Emanuel Craven
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he fell with a short ladder 37 feet down a pass from the 1050 feet level.
Mine: Montezuma Claim, Herberton
Date of Incident: 17th June 1908
Miners Name: William Jason Cain
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured from a fall of earth in an alluvial claim.
Mine: Trilby Claim, Herberton
Date of Incident: 30th June 1908
Miners Name: Thomas Orgill
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst working - he was fossicking in the old shallow workings when several tons of rock fell out of the roof.
Mine: Mount Molloy Copper Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 16th February 1909
Miners Name: Jason Laing
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured when he left his engine with steam on and the cage above the surface and stood leaning over the shaft when the cage descended and knocked him down 470 feet.
Mine: Lady Jane Mine, Mungana, Herberton
Date of Incident: 22nd February 1909
Miners Name: John Lee
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was engaged in timbering the slops above the 320 feet level when the ground fell.
Mine: OK Development Syndicate, Herberton
Date of Incident: 1st June 1909
Miners Name: James Kean
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was lifting into place the last cap of a square set when some ground overhead fell away from a soapy head and struck him on the back.
Mine: Wolfram Claim, Herberton
Date of Incident: 22nd June 1909
Miners Name: Alfred Baker
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst tamping a full loaded shallow hole when it exploded.
Mine: Loudoun Mill Herberton
Date of Incident: 10th August 1909
Miners Name: John P Armanacq
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured when a rope became accidentally coiled around the main driving shaft. While looking at the rope he extended his hand to feel it. The rope seized his hand and he was whirled around the shafting.
Mine: Stannary Hill Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 25th September 1909
Miners Name: Edmund Ahearne
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured after assisting to empty a truck of ore and he fell down the pass when he went around the back of the truck to close the door.
Mine: Fairplay (Koorborra) Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 5th March 1910
Miners Name: George Larsen
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he rode up the shaft in the bucket, and struck his head against a plank at the level half way up causing him to fall down the shaft.
Mine: Smith's Creek Proprietary Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 12th March 1910
Miners Name: P W Hutton; Thomas Elliot
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Two men were fatally injured when they got on the bucket to ride from no.4 to no.5 level. Six feet down the bucket lodged slightly on a narrow piece of timber fastened across the shaft. When it slipped off, the slack rope allowed it to fall several feet, throwing both men off.
Mine: Girofla (Mungana) Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 4th May 1910
Miners Name: D Driscoll
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was helping to split a large piece of ore with a bar when the ladder came away and he fell 4.5 feet through an opening he had helped to make.
Mine: Flying Pig Mine (Thornborough), Herberton
Date of Incident: 24th February 1911
Miners Name: Thomas Brophy
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was attempting to clear an old pass from the surface into the tunnel, when he was drawn into the pass by the mullock and smothered.
Mine: Crescent Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 25th April 1911
Miners Name: William Corey
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was assisting to timber a tunnel. He struck a collared leg to straighten it, when the set of timber collapsed.
Mine: Zillmanton No.2 Shaft, Herberton
Date of Incident: 24th September 1911
Miners Name: William Frederick Hurst
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was working in a stope below no.2 level and went up to no.2 plant to go to the surface for timber.
Mine: Chillagoe Smelters, Herberton
Date of Incident: 30th November 1911
Miners Name: D C Shove
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was leaning against the handrail which guards the elevated floor of the HH works. One end of the rail was insecurely fastened, and gave way.
Mine: OK Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 25th June 1912
Miners Name: A E Walkington
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he went down the old main shaft with an electric light to try and clear some rubbish of the 80 feet plat and succumbed to foul air.
Mine: Vulcan Tin Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 24th September 1912
Miners Name: Johnathan McIntyre
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst assisting to remove the last log from the collar of a winze at the 750 feet level when he fell to a stope below.
Mine: Chillagoe Reduction Works, Herberton
Date of Incident: 20th October 1912
Miners Name: Stewart Fraser
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured when he attempted to oil the cog wheels beneath a Chilian mill in motion and was drawn through the gears.
Mine: Lily Claim, Herberton
Date of Incident: 6th November 1912
Miners Name: Charles Dargen
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was descending a shallow shaft when he stepped on the end of a plank which tipped up and precipitated him 15 feet to the bottom of the shaft.
Mine: Chillagoe Reduction Works, Herberton
Date of Incident: 10th April 1913
Miners Name: R H Sinclair
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured when he was caught in the cogwheels of the no.2 crushing rolls at the HH plant.
Mine: Alluvial Claim, Herberton
Date of Incident: 16th June 1914
Miners Name: Andrew Munden
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he undermined a compacted face of gravel which fell upon him.
Mine: Herberton Deep Lead Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 13th May 1915
Miners Name: T J Leahy
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured from a fall of earth.
Mine: Mulligan Mine (Maclnryre Shaft), Chillagoe
Date of Incident: 8th February 1918
Miners Name: Benjamin Thomas
Occupation: Manager
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he was struck on the head and shoulders by 1 cwt of stone which fell from the brow of the 110 feet plat.
Mine: Tryconnell Gold Mine, Chillagoe
Date of Incident: 2nd October 1918
Miners Name: Robert Thomas
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when the triangular end of the surface penthouse fell 367 feet to the sink and struck his head.
Mine: Mount Nolan Tin Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 15th March 1920
Miners Name: Edward Johnson
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he went down the Lord Nolan Shaft and fell 170 feet to the bottom of the shaft.
Mine: Chillagoe State Smelters, Herberton
Date of Incident: 5th September 1921
Miners Name: B J Keats
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was working under a railway wagon when a shunting engine caused the wagon to pass over him.
Mine: Cobby Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 23rd July 1922
Miners Name: George Crowe
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was engaged in cleaning up the shaft after firing, his pick came into contact with the charge of the miss-hole which exploded.
Mine: Girofla Mine, Mungana
Date of Incident: 11th January 1923
Miners Name: J Bonanmy Girard
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he was fixing six holes in a winze and one of the holes went off prematurely.
Mine: Sammy Edwards Tin Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 21st April 1924
Miners Name: F Hoffman
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst cleaning out and old stope in an old abandoned tin mine when a portion of the hanging wall fell on him.
Mine: UNA Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 13th February 1940
Miners Name: Walter Harris
Sex: Male
Occupation: Engine Driver
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured when he tripped over a pipe which was about 6 inches above the floor and struck his head on the iron ball about 6 feet from the pipe.
Mine: Wolfram Camp Mine, Herberton
Date of Incident: 16th April 1943
Miners Name: Matthew Thomas Payne Evans
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was starting an internal combustion engine which had been installed underground and fell into a winze contacting water and drowned.
Mine: Just In Time Mine, Mount Carbine
Date of Incident: 7th March 1944
Miners Name: John Doust Bailey
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he fell 40 feet into a stope.
Mine: Tableland Tin Dredging, Mount Garnet
Date of Incident: 9th August 1950
Miners Name: Albert Henry Martin
Sex: Male
Occupation: Boilermaker
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured when he was assisting in the positioning of a coal hopper section in the power house when the failure of a wire sling caused the hopper section to fall on him.
Mine: Red Hill Mine, Kirrama
Date of Incident: 3rd October 1953
Miners Name: A T Bell
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured from a fall of ground from a hanging wall of the stope.
Mine: Dingo Tin Mine, Irvinebank
Date of Incident: 30th November 1959
Miners Name: Thomas Edward Betheras
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured whilst he was working in a drive when he was struck by a large slab of rock.
Mine: Alhambra Mine, Coolgarra
Date of Incident: 30th July 1970
Miners Name: Barry Cooper
Occupation: Miner
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured when he was buried by a fall of rock.
Mine: Ravenshoe Tin Dredging Ltd, Mount Garnet
Date of Incident: 29th December 1971
Miners Name: Malcolm Douglas Webster
Sex: Male
Occupation: Electrician
Accident Location: Surface - Dredge
Incident: Fatally injured when he was electrocuted whilst working at the rear of a 415-volt switchboard on the dredge.
Mine: Tinaroo Alluvial Mining Lease, Mareeba
Date of Incident: 7th November 1973
Miners Name: Kenneth Lyle Hungerford
Sex: Male
Occupation: Plant operator
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured when the caterpillar 966 front end loader he was operating ran down an embankment and overturned pinning the deceased beneath.
Mine: Jimbilly Mine, Irvinebank
Date of Incident: 27th August 1980
Miners Name: E Crome
Sex: Male
Occupation: Miner
Accident Location: Underground
Incident: Fatally injured from a fall of ground.
Mine: Wyndham Rise Alluvial Tin Plant, Mount Garnet
Date of Incident: 10th September 1980
Miners Name: H Baker
Sex: Male
Occupation: Mobile Plant Operator
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured when a truck carrying tin-bearing gravel overshot the end of the feed ramp and somersaulted into the hopper where the cab was crushed.
Mine: Tichum Creek Quarry
Date of Incident: 17th October 1994
Miners Name: G J Milner
Sex: Male
Accident Location: Surface
Incident: Fatally injured when the dump truck he was operating fell over the quarry face.