WorkSafe Victoria has alleged the company breached the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the incident, in which the miners were trapped for nearly four hours on November 19, 2007.

It is alleged Ballarat Goldfields "failed to provide and maintain a safe workplace", which is an indictable offence and has a potential maximum penalty of $1,051,380.

There were no injuries in the incident.

A first mention hearing of the charges will be held in Ballarat Magistrates Court on November 2.

At 3.30am on November 19, 2007, the upper section of the access tunnel at the mine's Woolshed Gully operation collapsed about 700m from the main entrance.

One of the trapped miners called 000 on his mobile phone and alerted emergency services to the cave-in.

The first group of miners were brought to the surface in a large bucket, via a ventilation shaft in Elsworth St, at 7.20am.

Less than an hour later, the final group was rescued through the shaft, ending the five-hour ordeal.

The rock fall gained international media attention and came a year-and-a-half after the Beaconsfield Mine collapse in Tasmania in April 2006, when one person died.

Ballarat Goldfields is owned by Lihir Gold Ltd.

Lihir Gold put the mine up for sale in July because it was failing to deliver the expected output in the southern and central zones.

The mine was unable to sustain large-scale mining techniques.

Two hundred employees lost their jobs when the sale was announced.

Another two hundred workers were made redundant in April.