A mining vehicle operator is accused of causing his colleague’s death at Vault Minerals’ (ASX:VAU) King of the Hills Gold Mine, 265km north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia’s Goldfields.
The Western Australia Police Force reportedly charged the 32-year-old light vehicle driver with endangering the life, health, and safety of his 38-year-old DeltaFM subcontractor passenger.
Their Toyota HiLux rolled on a 40km/h stretch of a site access road at about 4:55am on 7 April 2026. The passenger died from serious injuries while the driver also suffered minor injuries that received emergency medical treatment.
As previously reported, Vault did not have information about other staff members or vehicles that were involved in the incident.
“The company extends its sincere condolences to the deceased’s family, friends, and colleagues, and is providing support to the workforce during this difficult time,” the company says.
State Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety representatives also investigated the incident and performed site inspections.
Vault voluntarily suspended operations until initial police and departmental investigations concluded on 8 April 2026.
The 32-year-old driver has been summoned to appear at the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on 30 April 2026.
Mining deaths on the rise
On 14 March Western Australian boilermaker Simon Mukwarami became fatally injured after falling through a grid mesh walkway at South32’s Worsley Alumina refinery, 57km east of Bunbury.
The 47-year-old father died from the operation having “no controls” in place to “prevent a fall”, according to WorkSafe WA documents obtained by Seven West Media.
On 31 July 2025 six contractors died and many more were injured after an underground mine roof section collapsed due to a 4.2 magnitude earthquake at Codelco’s El Teniente Copper Mine in Chile.
Underground operations were temporarily suspended until rescue efforts and safety inspections concluded.
The country’s labour ministry introduced heavy sanctions against Codelco in the months following the tremor that caused a so-called “rock burst”, according to open records obtained by Reuters.
Codelco also received a US$20,000 ($28,113.40) infringement notice while the remaining US$67,000 ($94,179) went to three different contracting companies, according to the newswire agency.
Vault Minerals is a gold mining and mineral exploration company with assets mainly in WA’s Goldfields-Esperance region.
Write to Richard Szabo at Mining.com.au
Images: Vault Minerals
