First time for mine rescue competition in Heathcote

MANDALAY Resources Costerfield hosted the annual Victorian Mine Rescue Competition for the first time last weekend.

The event is run annually by the Minerals Council of Australia as a mine rescue and emergency response capacity building exercise.

Teams from across Victoria and Australia compete against each other in a variety of simulated emergency situations to test their skills and share their knowledge with each other.

Agnico Eagle’s Fosterville Gold Mine in Bendigo came first in overall winner. Cornwall Coal (Cement Australia) from Tasmania came in second place and Victoria’s Stawell Gold Mine in third place.

Mandalay Costerfield were placed in several scenarios.

“In one of the largest annual mine safety training exercises in Australia, Fosterville Gold Mine took out the top honours as best overall emergency rescue team after completing two days of six challenging simulated emergency scenarios,” said executive director Minerals Council of Australia Victoria, James Sorahan.

“Teams from 10 mines from Victoria, NSW and Tasmania took part in the MCA Victorian Mine Rescue Competition (VMRC) over the weekend at Mandalay Resources’ Costerfield Operations and in Heathcote.

“VMRC is a major annual safety training exercise involving simulated rescue scenarios for mine emergency response teams organised by MCA Victoria.

“An important part of the competition is to support inter-agency collaboration across emergency response agencies including Victoria Police, SES, CFA and Ambulance Victoria.

“The competition is a critical part of the mining industry’s efforts to support highly trained rescue personnel now in its 32nd year.

“MCA Victoria thanks the numerous volunteers and sponsors that make this mine safety training possible.”