Lost miner’s sad farewell

THE family and friends of Cameron Goss, along with the wider West Coast mining community, stopped yesterday to remember the deceased miner at a funeral service at the Queenstown Memorial Hall.

Mr Goss, 46, was killed during a rockfall at the Henty Gold Mine on January 23.

His body, and the loader he was operating at the time of the rockfall, were brought back to the surface, and back to his family, on February 17. In a death notice, his wife Christine said: “Somewhere in my dreams tonight, I’ll see you standing there.

“You look at me with a smile. Life isn’t always fair.”

He was also farewelled by his two children, Alysha and Kaleb.

“Every time I think of you my heart still fills with pride. Though I’ll always miss you Dad, I know you’re by my side,” his children said.

His mother, brother and sisters said Mr Goss was gone in the “blink of an eye”.

“We never got to say goodbye. You’re out of sight but not out of our hearts,” they said in a collective tribute.

The State Government, Labor and the Greens all expressed their sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Mr Goss.

“Cameron’s death has been most deeply felt by his family, but his death has also echoed across the mining sector and beyond,” Labor leader Rebecca White said.

“At the moment news broke of the tragedy there was a collective pause right across the state.

“We all held our breath as we heard the news and for many of us we recalled previous mine collapses where there had been stories of both survival and, sadly, death.

“Initially there was hope that Cameron might still be alive. But as time passed it became clear that hope was fading.”

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor lamented the dangers associated with the mining industry.

“Like every family who says goodbye to someone going off to work for the day, they all would have expected to see him come home that night, but he did not,” she said.

PYBAR Mining Services, which operates the gold mine, last week said while some mining operations had resumed in the wake of the tragedy it would be several weeks before the mine was fully operational again.