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"Unfortunately there's two mine workers who aren't returning home today. And there's loved ones out there that will be grieving the loss of their father, mother, sister."
That's Southwestern Mining and Energy Union District President Bob Timbs, confirming the grim news of two deaths after an explosion at a mine site 40 kilometres away from the small far western New South Wales town of Cobar.
Superintendent Gerard Lawson from New South Wales Police says a man was confirmed dead after the blast, while a woman died soon after being brought to the surface.
Federal and state authorities have responded quickly to the accident, with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos releasing a joint statement expressing their dismay and offering condolences.
Federal Industry Minister Tim Ayres has also paid tribute.
"Everybody - all of us - thinking of Jamie Chaffey, the new member for Parkes - are thinking about those families in what is an unfolding situation in a very old mining facility there in Cobar."
The dead have not yet been formally identified, but both were living in Cobar, with the woman believed to be in her 20s while the man was aged in his 60s.
The Mayor of Cobar Shire Council Jarrod Marsden has told SBS News that support is already being put in place for anyone who might need it in the small town, where he says everyone knows each other.
"The mines have fairly strong support networks, with counsellors etc. We'll provide whatever support is necessary. Whatever the community and the families need is what we'll provide."
The mine is owned by a company called Polymetals Resources, which bought the site in 2023 and restarted mining operations this year.
It's the second-largest project in the polymetallic region known as the Cobar Basin, mining silver, zinc and lead.
And as the families and community grieves, questions are already being asked about what happened at the mine and why.
With the overall industry statewide worth an estimated $22 billion a year, the Premier and New South Wales Minerals Council chief Stephen Galilee say the number one priority in any mine must be safety - but Bob Timbs says he's not convinced that has been the case here because different mines have different safety and oversight rules.
"We've got independent safety experts in the coal industry that on our behalf look into safety incidents and accidents. And they (metal mines) don't have those at the moment. Also there's a lot of legislation that covers off on the use of chemicals and other materials underground that's more robust in the coal industry than what it is in the metalliferous industry."
New South Wales Mineworkers' Alliance spokesman Tony Callinan has called for an open and transparent investigation into how the incident happened.
Bob Timbs says that's what his union wants too.
"There's obviously been a catastrophic safety failure at the mine. In this day and age that type of accident just should not have happened. And we will do everything within our power - once we have dealt with and supported the families and mine workers in the community - to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again."
The New South Wales Resources Regulator is understood to be already probing the explosion, while the Superintendent says New South Wales Police are preparing a report for the coroner.
As that investigation begins, Jarrod Marsden says the Cobar community and mining families are coping the best that they can.
He says while he and others are struggling to come to terms with the deaths, the town would need to find strength in community to get through the tough time.
"I guess it's a reminder that the most valuable thing in a mine are the miners. And you know, when they don't come home, it's life altering and it's - yeah, it's terrible."
