It is understood the deceased was Wayne Fowlie, a Norseman local.

The Department of Mines and Petroleum told MiningNews.net this morning that inspectors had been sent from Perth and arrived at the mine on Sunday.

Operations have been stopped while an investigation is underway.

The Harlequin underground mine is located around 200km south of Kalgoorlie and operations commenced in 1995.

The mine is operated by Central Norseman Gold, a wholly owned subsidiary of Norseman Gold.

The accident is the latest fatality in the local mining sector this year after a 26-year-old man, working for BGH Mining Resources, died on an exploration lease near Newman in January.

Last month also saw the death of a worker at Copper Mines of Tasmania's Mount Lyell operation in Queenstown, Tasmania.

Recent months have also seen a spate of accidents at Fortescue Metals Group's mines, where contractor Kurt Williams was killed in a crushing accident in August and Allen Zuvela was killed in an accident at a heavy vehicle workshop in late December.