Shares in Mastermyne Group Limited (ASX: MYE) are in freefall today after the mining services company reported the death of a worker in an underground incident last night.
Resources Health and Safety Queensland are investigating the incident, with all mining operations suspended until further notice.
At the time of writing, the Mastermyne share price has plummeted 18.55% to 90 cents.
What happened?
In a statement to the ASX, Mastermyne reported that a worker was fatally injured last night in an underground mine collapse in central Queensland.
A section of wall and ceiling caved in while operations were underway at Gregory Coal Mine, located at Crinum, the company said.
Mastermyne advised that one of its workers was fatally injured, while another employee was trapped in the rubble. He has since been freed and is in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Mastermyne managing director Tony Caruso said the company was providing support and assistance to the affected families. Counselling services have also been made available to all staff impacted by the incident:
This is a tragic event and our immediate thoughts are with the family, friends and workmates of our employee.
The safety and wellbeing of our staff is one of our core values. The cause of the incident will be thoroughly investigated and we will continue to support the family and our work colleagues.
Quick refresher on the Mastermyne contract
In late May, Mastermyne secured a $660 million mining services contract to operate the Gregory coal underground mine owned by Sojitz.
The 7-year deal includes an initial 6-month period of work to re-establish the underground infrastructure, with 180 full-time personnel employed. Works include conveyor systems, ventilation and associated mine services, plus remediation works and surface infrastructure.
The company previously planned to start mining production late this calendar year.
The mine has coal reserves amounting to 159 million tonnes of coking coal. This makes it one of the largest coal reserves in Australia and the world.
About the Mastermyne share price
As of market close yesterday, Mastermyne shares were trading 25% higher over the past 12 months. However, after today's significant fall, its shares are now flat.
The company's share price is up by more than 30% year-to-date.
Based on today's price, Mastermyne has a market capitalisation of roughly $97.3 million, and approximately 107.5 million shares on issue.
