King of the Hills Gold Mine: Driver charged over death of colleague on Vault Minerals’ site access road

A worker has been charged over the death of his colleague at a WA gold mine after the car he was driving rolled last week on a 40km/h stretch of road. The 38-year-old man who died in the crash on April 7 was employed by DeltaFM, a subcontractor engaged by the catering contractor at Vault Minerals’ King of the Hills gold mine north of Leonora. He was a passenger in a Toyota HilLux which rolled on a 40km/h stretch of a site access road about 4.55am. It is understood the driver of the car, a 32-year-old man from New South Wales, has since been charged with the offence of endanger life, health or safety of a person by WA Police. The 32-year-old is due to face Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on April 30. The company previously said the driver of the car suffered minor injuries. “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,” they said in a statement. Operations at King of the Hills mine were suspended following the incident before resuming later in the week. The tragedy marks the second death on a WA mine site this year. Simon Mukwarami was working as a boilermaker on a digester at South32’s Worsley Alumina refinery near Collie, when he fell through a grid mesh walkway to his death during the early hours of March 14. The 47-year-old, much-loved father died at the refinery because there were “no controls” in place “to prevent a fall”, a leaked document from the State’s safety regulator revealed last week.