The Western Mines Rescue Competition was held at the Baal Bone Colliery last Friday where six teams from the Western New South Wales mining district competed.

Competing mines included Clarence, Angus Place, Baal Bone, Ulan, Springvale and a combination team of mine rescue cadets and Angus Place miners.

The Angus Place Bulls won all the disciplines for the day and also took home the award for the most improved.

Representing the Angus Place Colliery were team captain Kyle Egan, vice-captain Ross Dowsett and team members Scott Hamment, Jason (Jed) Frazer, Stephen Quinn and Joe Luchetti.

Luchetti, who has been competing for four years, said the Baal Bone competition was one of the most enjoyable and challenging his team had been involved in.

“It was a great day,” Luchetti told International Longwall News.

“Some of the disciplines we had to do were quite challenging compared to previous years.”

Western Mines Rescue training coordinator Roger Cameron said all teams had performed above expectations in all the categories, which was a reflection of how hard they had trained.

“It should give the mines a lot of comfort that they have these people working for them,” Cameron told ILN.

“But Angus Place was a standout as they won all the sections.”

The miners were tested in underground search and rescue exercises, a firefighting and CABA exercise, first aid and theory.

Angus Place has been a strong competitor in the mine rescue competitions, winning the 2005 national competition.

The Centennial Coal team will now represent the NSW Western District in the national competition, along with three other NSW teams from the Newcastle, Hunter and Southern districts.