Dugald River Zinc Mine accident: Race to rescue miners Dylan Langridge and Trevor Davis at Cloncurry

Two miners reported missing after a freak accident have been confirmed dead after rescuers dug a tunnel 125m underground to reach the area where they disappeared.

Dylan Langridge and Trevor Davis vanished while laying explosives 100m below ground at Dugald River Zinc Mine, 70km from Cloncurry in north-west Queensland.

The men were employed by the mining company Barminco. The managing director and chief executive of its parent company, ASX-listed Perenti, Mark Norwell said of the men’s discovery: ‘This is a devastating outcome.

‘I want to extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to the families, friends, colleagues and loved ones of Trevor and Dylan, both of whom should have come home safely from work yesterday.’

Mr Davis and Mr Langridge’s ute plunged into a pitch black abyss when the ground opened up beneath them after a nearby drilling rig slipped down a mining stope, apparently triggering a sinkhole.

The drilling rig engineer managed to leap to safety, but the miners were unable to escape in time fell 25m into a cavernous pit.

Their radios remained silent after the accident, which happened around 8am on Wednesday.

Rescuers found their bodies after digging a  125m underground to reach the area where they disappeared

Trevor Davis (left) and Dylan Langridge (right) were at the Dugald River zinc mine, about 70km from Cloncurry, in Queensland’s northwest, when a drill rig and a light vehicle suddenly fell into the mine pit just before 9am on Wednesday. There bodies have been found

Zinc mines like Dugald River (pictured) are usually built around a vertical core of ore, with a roadway spiralling around it to allow miners to use explosives to carve out the mineral, said Professor David Cliff

Two miners bodies have been found after they were trapped in the Dugald River zinc mine in rural northwest Queensland (pictured, a map of where the mine is located)

 Rescue teams dug a tunnel up into the area where the workers’ ute was lying.

Earlier today mine owners MMG said ‘data captured from drone footage has enabled the rescue team to start active access to the vehicle which will involve reaching the vehicle from below.’

Mine general manager Tim Akroyd added: ‘The drone footage has enabled us to plan a rescue that is safe for both the emergency response team and minimises the danger to the recovery of the light vehicle. 

‘Our approach is to continue to safely remove material from around the vehicle so we can safely extract it. 

Professor David Cliff of the University of Queensland told the Courier Mail said zinc mines were usually built around a vertical core of ore, with a roadway spiralling around it to allow miners to use explosives to carve out the mineral.

But he said it was a mystery how exactly the accident had happened.

‘There’s no normal way for a cavity to form underneath, unless there’s a pre-existing roadway or other tunnel,’ he said.

He said the sudden appearance of the sinkhole suggested the area could be unstable and at risk of further subsidence.