This year’s event, the 30th, was held at Mt Lyell mine at Queenstown on the state’s west coast October 27-28. Mt Lyell is currently on care and maintenance.
Competition events included first aid, team skills, firefighting, rope rescue, search and rescue and theory. Six total teams competed.
Overall, first place went to Grange Resources’ Blue Sky Miners, and second and third went to MMG Rosebery Mines Rescue and the team of TMERC Combined Mutual Aid.
Results by event were as follows:
- Overall First Aid (combined score as judged across all scenarios): Cornwall Coal - Mines Rescue
- Overall Safety (combined score as judged across all scenarios): Cornwall Coal - Mines Rescue
- Best Captain (combined score as judged across all scenarios): Cornwall Coal - Mines Rescue (Leigh Spilsbury)
- Underground Search & Rescue: MMG Rosebery Mine Rescue Team
- Surface Search & Rescue: Grange Resources - Blue Sky Miners
- Fire Fighting: Bluestone Mines Rescue
- Rope Rescue: Grange Resources - Blue Sky Miners
- First Aid Scenario: TMERC Combined Mutual Aid Team
- Team Skills: Grange Resources - Blue Sky Miners
- Theory: Grange Resources - Blue Sky Miners
“Our annual competition provides teams with an excellent learning opportunity and a practical way to test their skills in a simulated emergency situation, with a strong focus on safety…[and] allows a chance for us to test our effectiveness when it comes to providing mutual aid,” Tasmanian Minerals Emergency Response Committee chairman Ben Maynard said.
Copper Mines of Tasmania spokesman Peter Walker added the competition focuses on making sure individual teams could also work in tandem if needed.
“Each mine and smelter site in the state has their own emergency response teams, and there is a mutual aid agreement between these operations that ensures additional skilled assistance and support can be called upon in the event of an extended emergency. This also benefits the wider community as many team members are also volunteers with the SES and other volunteer organisations,” he said.
