Beaconsfield Mine Collapse – Insurance Developments

Wotton + Kearney acts in this matter for QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited (QBE) which arose out of the closure of Beaconsfield Gold Mine (the Mine) following the roof fall on Anzac Day 2006 which caused the death of one miner and trapped two others underground for a number of weeks.

On 10 October 2007 Justice Hargrave of the Supreme Court of Victoria handed down a judgment on a threshold insurance issue in connection with a claim for business interruption (BI) losses of approximately $45 million made by Allstate Explorations (NL) and others, the owners and operators of the Mine (Allstate), against QBE pursuant to an Industrial Special Risks (ISR) insurance policy issued by QBE to Allstate.