A rapid response has reportedly contained a fire that caused significant damage to the processing plant at Kalgoorlie's Super Pit gold mine. 

The fire, which erupted at the Fimiston Mill, was reported to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) at 3:36 am on Friday. Firefighters were on the scene by 4:07 am, and the blaze was extinguished by 5:30 am.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the fire was sparked by welding works inside a tank. 

While no injuries were reported, the inferno resulted in damages ranging from $500,000 to $700,000. 

Troy Della-Costa, the officer-in-charge of Kalgoorlie Fire Station, expressed his admiration for the rapid containment of the fire, hailing the collaborative efforts of the firefighting crews and the mine operator's emergency response team.

The fire, the first industrial incident of its kind at the Super Pit site in two decades, was confined to a single tank that was completely destroyed. 

“It did spread fairly quickly from the area of origin, but it was contained to that one tank and a small bit of infrastructure coming off the tank,” Della-Costa said. 

The fire's swift containment prevented further escalation, although extinguishing the blaze was challenging due to the persistent burning of the rubber materials involved.

Responding to the incident were three fire trucks from Kalgoorlie Fire Station and two crews from Kalgoorlie Volunteer Fire and Rescue. 

The mine operator, Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM), also dispatched their emergency teams to the scene. The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) has been notified and is currently conducting inquiries into the incident.

The Fimiston Mill, commissioned in 1989 and expanded twice since then, is one of the largest milling facilities in Australia. It processes approximately 13 million tonnes of ore annually. 

With the recent approval of a $1.5-billion expansion, the processing capacity will be more than doubled to about 27 million tonnes per year, solidifying the Super Pit's position as Australia's most productive gold mine, surpassing WA's Boddington mine.