A miner rescued after surviving a rockfall in an underground collapse that killed his colleague is on the mend in hospital.

The 21-year-old Ballarat man was rushed to the Alfred Hospital in a critical condition hours after becoming pinned underneath fallen rocks at the Ballarat Gold Mine at Mount Clear on Wednesday.

On Sunday, the hospital confirmed his condition was no longer critical.

“This patient is in a serious but stable condition,” a hospital spokeswoman said.

Bruthen man Kurt Hourigan, 37, died in the collapse, with heartbroken friends and family paying tribute to him on social media.

The collapse happened 500m underground and three kilometres from the mine’s entrance, forcing 29 other miners to take refuge in a safety pod before being brought to the surface.

Police on the case

Victoria Police is preparing a report for the coroner while the workplace health and safety regulator investigate the collapse.

Australian Workers Union Victoria state secretary Ronnie Hayden said the workers were performing a manual form of mining called “air legging”, which he claimed was not safe.

He has called on WorkSafe to use Victoria’s workplace manslaughter laws and bring charges against any individuals responsible.

Some 169 Victorians have died at work since the laws took effect in 2020 but only one director has been prosecuted and escaped jail time, Mr Hayden said.

The union boss earlier said the mine’s senior safety manager had been made redundant, but mine owner Victory Minerals said the redundancy involved a corporate staffer.

“No safety professionals working underground in the mine were made redundant in the recent restructure,” a spokesperson said.

“In fact, we increased safety professional resources within the underground.”

The company took over the mine in December.

-AAP