WorkSafe investigates shovel fire at Kalgoorlie Super Pit
A fire badly damaged a large mining shovel operating at Kalgoorlie's Super Pit gold mine.
No-one was injured in the September 9 fire, but the excavator has an estimated replacement cost of $18 million.
Safety regulator WorkSafe WA is investigating the incident alongside gold miner Northern Star Resources.
WorkSafe WA is investigating after a fire engulfed the driver's cab of a heavy-duty mining shovel at one of Australia's biggest gold mines.
The incident occurred last Wednesday during the night shift while the 750-tonne Komatsu PC8000 shovel was working in the Oroya Brownhill section of Kalgoorlie's Super Pit, about 600 kilometres east of Perth.
The Super Pit's owner, gold miner Northern Star Resources, confirmed no one was injured in the incident.
In a statement to the ABC, Northern Star said the mine operator Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) immediately activated its emergency response team, which extinguished the fire.
A Northern Star spokesperson said there has been no material interruption to Super Pit operations.
"KCGM has initiated contingency plans to cover for the damaged excavator, which in any event was due to be retired in November 2026 and replaced by a new excavator," they said.
"In line with our normal processes, the KCGM team is carrying out a thorough assessment of the incident so that we can apply learnings, strengthen our processes and continue safe and reliable operations."
WorkSafe WA said it was aware of the incident and was investigating the circumstances surrounding the fire.
According to Northern Star, the PC8000 is one of the biggest mechanical shovels in the world and has an estimated replacement cost of $18 million.
Its fuel tank has a capacity of 13,900 litres of diesel, and one full bucket of material is equal to 68.5 tonnes.
The damaged machine is one of four PC8000 shovels in the open pit fleet at the Super Pit, which also includes 45 Caterpillar 793F trucks with a 226-tonne payload and five newer 793NG trucks.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.abc.net.au — the content belongs to ABC News Australia - Top Stories.
