Worker killed in ‘lifting incident’ at central Queensland coal mine

Work at a central Queensland mine have halted after a 59-year-old worker was killed in what the operator has described as a “lifting incident” overnight.

Police say emergency services were called to the Moranbah North mine, an underground coal operation about 200 kilometres west of Mackay, after the incident after 10pm on Friday.

The man was declared dead at the scene after suffering critical head injuries during a workplace incident, a police spokeswoman said. He was an employee of a contractor on the site.

Anglo American, which manages the mine, released a statement on Saturday morning confirming that a worker had been killed in a “lifting incident”.

Chief executive Tyler Mitchelson said mining activities had stopped and a full investigation would be undertaken with authorities to understand how the incident occurred.

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“We are devastated by the loss of one of our colleagues at Moranbah North Mine, and our thoughts are with their family and friends,” Mr Mitchelson said.

“Our focus is on supporting our colleagues’ family and all those involved in the tragic incident. We have services on site to support our workforce at Moranbah North Mine.”

Resources Safety and Health Queensland has been contacted for comment.