The entrance of the Newmont Waihi Gold company's underground Favona Mine at Waihi. Photo / Richard Robinson
A miner at Newmont's Waihi gold mine has been sacked as a result of a staff review following the underground truck fire that trapped 28 miners underground for seven hours.
Newmont said the miner, who was underground during the incident last month, did not follow emergency procedures and was dismissed
following a disciplinary hearing.
Newmont external affairs co ordinator Kit Wilson said contrary to a television news report, the dismissed staff member was not the driver of the truck.
As it was an employment matter, the company would not release any further details about who the miner was or what behaviour led to the dismissal.
The company did, however, release the full accident investigation report that looked into the causes of the truck fire.
The report found damage to a hydraulic tank located under the driver's cabin caused the fire and it was not put out by the truck's automated fire suppression system because the system did not extend to that part of the truck.
The AFFF system used on the Komatsu 300 dump truck used in the mine covers major hot spots within the engine compartment, such as the turbo unit, fuel and oil lines, and the exhaust.
