General News
25 September, 2024
Veteran miners walk in memory of their fallen mates
Joseph Rogers and Frank Borell were two of the many who turned out for the first Mount Isa Miners Memorial walk.
They've both had knee replacements, arthritis in the hands, countless scars from too many mishaps and one needs a mobility frame for support – but retired Mount Isa miners Frank Borell, 70, and Joseph Rogers, 73, wanted to attend the inaugural Mount Isa miners memorial walk.
Their Mount Isa Mines payroll numbers are 22888 and 22636 – indicating they took their site inductions only a few months apart in 1973.
They briefly worked together at Level 20C at the lead mine.
Frank was born in New Zealand and raised in Sydney – he arrived in Mount Isa for his first job out of school.
Frank says he worked as a handheld flatpacker and occasional shift boss at MIM for 38 years before retiring and moving to Karumba. It was the only job he ever had.
He made the 500km journey from the Gulf to Mount Isa specifically to attend the memorial walk.
Joseph was born and raised in Dajarra. He proudly says he worked as a rise miner – the hardest job in the mine, he claims.
“You were working in a hostile environment,” Joseph explained of his decades spent underground.
“Some men would start underground and would not even last until crib time because they couldn’t stand the cramped area.
“We were young and strong and we thought we were bullet proof.
“We came to Mount Isa to get ahead in life – it was all about looking after your family.”
With the MIM first home buyers grant, Frank was able to spend $25,000 for a three bedroom house with a big shed on an 800m2 block.
Joseph bought a four bedroom house for $52,000.
“We had our kids in the 1980s and we could buy a house in Mount Isa and we had jobs that could support our families,” Frank says.
“We were there during the golden years at MIM – it used to be the best company in Australia to work for – they looked after their employees. You had a job for life if you wanted.”
Both men recall being at MIM when there were fatal accidents.
“I went to the cemetery seven or eight times to bury men who had died at the mine,” Frank remembers.
“You always remember seeing the little kids who didn’t have a father anymore and the grieving wife who was now alone.
“We wanted to be here to pay tribute to all those blokes.”