Miners and residents from the remote New South Wales (NSW) community of Cobar spoke with World Socialist Web Site reporters last week, voicing their opposition to Polymetals’ decision to rapidly reopen its Endeavor Mine following the tragic deaths of shift supervisor Ambrose Patrick McMullen, 59, and charge-up operator Holly Clarke, 24, in an underground explosion in the early hours of October 28. The blast left fellow team member Mackenzie Stirling, also 24, with serious injuries, including hearing damage.

Located 685 kilometres west of Sydney, Cobar is a small community of about 3,500 people dominated by the mining industry, which began operations in the 1870s following the discovery of copper in the region. About 40 percent of the local workforce is directly employed in mining, with many others working in related industries servicing the area’s copper, silver, gold, zinc and lead deposits.

Within days of the fatal explosion—and even before separate funerals were held for McMullen and Clarke, or the release of an interim report by the NSW Resources Regulator—Polymetals announced that the Endeavor Mine would reopen on November 5. By November 15, with no opposition from the NSW Labor government, the regulator, or the Australian Workers Union and the Mining and Energy Union, the mine had resumed operating at full production.

Last Saturday afternoon, more than 640 people gathered at the Cobar Memorial Services Club to honour Holly Clarke’s life. The capacity crowd heard speeches from family members and friends.

Immediately after the explosion, the company told Endeavor Mine employees not to speak to the media or even to friends and family about the explosion, the deaths of McMullen and Clarke, or conditions at the mine.

Despite these anti-democratic efforts to silence the working-class community, residents raised concerns about the reopening of the Endeavor Mine before a serious investigation into the tragedy had been conducted.

The wife of a miner said she opposed the immediate reopening of the mine.

“I don’t think this is right. Nobody knows what caused this, so to reopen the mine under these circumstances is disturbing for workers and their families. There’s been no exposure of what really happened. We need answers, and this must be done before any reopening of the mine,” she said.

“I think the aim of everyone who works underground is to come out alive. Everyone must come out. Human life is more important than all the pieces of rock that are dug up. The company must put human life before anything else.

“I heard about the explosion because someone called to ask me where my husband worked. I wanted to know why they were asking, and they told me there had been an accident—an explosion. I was devastated.

“I couldn’t sleep and kept trying to call my husband, but he wasn’t picking up. I was devastated and upset. When I heard that one man [Ambrose McMullen] had died, I was heartbroken because I knew him. And then, when I learned that two had been killed, I was very sad, and I still can’t get it out of my mind.

“It is very frightening for workers and their families when they don’t know why this happened. Everyone needs answers—not just the residents of Cobar but people all over Australia. Even though my husband works in a different mine, he still works underground, and so the fear is still there for all of us.”

A miner who has worked as a shot-firer for more than ten years voiced concerns about the use of electric detonators, which he said were dangerous. He explained that the mine he works for in Cobar had already begun replacing them with electronic detonators even before the explosion at the Endeavor Mine.

“After this incident, we will probably not use electric detonators anymore. There are longer delays and other safety mechanisms with electronic detonators. Electric might be cheaper than electronic, but if you’re going to evaluate safety on the basis of cost, then you’re going to have more accidents,” he said.

He told the WSWS that he disagreed with the speedy reopening of the mine before any investigation had been completed. “I heard about the reopening on the news and thought this was wrong. They announced it even before the funerals were held and while everyone was still in mourning. This is not right.”

A young farmer living in Cobar said Polymetals “just needs to slow down and take more time to understand what happened and not rush into reopening so this doesn’t happen again to somebody else.

“We’re always told that the most important thing to come out of the mine is a miner, which is how we—the little people—talk. But the big people don’t think like that. They’re always thinking about the money side of things, how to get the mine open and the paperwork done so they can get back to making money.

“The company wants to put a band-aid over things by closing the site off for a short while and then pretending it didn’t happen. And the media are not reporting anything now. There’s no coverage, even on the internet, which is pretty strange.”

A Cobar worker employed in the service sector said, “I knew Holly from social occasions. She was full of life and so happy—a beautiful person. Ambrose was very well respected in the community. He knew his job and had a lot of experience.” She said she was “shocked” that the Endeavor Mine had reopened so quickly.

“They haven’t even investigated properly. They don’t know what happened,” she said. “How can they know the same thing won’t happen again? They’ve done this because they want to make more money. It’s money before people. Managers and higher-ups sit in their offices; they’re not working underground.

“There needs to be a proper investigation before they go back to making money. They’re putting workers in jeopardy. The community doesn’t want it reopened—we want to know what happened to two of our people. I don’t have confidence in the official investigation. These people are called independent, but just because they say they are doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“The rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” she continued, referring to the rising cost of living for ordinary people, especially in Cobar, which is isolated from larger towns and major shopping centres.

“In Cobar, we have limited shopping options. The cost of food and everything has gone up. Unless you’re prepared to travel for hours, you have to pay what they charge. There’s not enough housing here. It’s better than a lot of places like Sydney, but you’re paying a lot for what you’re getting,” she said.