Mr King, 44, won the Miners Challenge grand final for the second year in a row.

The competition draws opal and hard rock miners from all over the country.

Mr King qualified for the eight-man grand final after winning the rickshaw event and placing second in the strength challenge.

The grand final event was a shovelling competition, in which the contestants had to shovel a set amount of dirt into a blower.

Mr King recorded the fastest time – 40.26 seconds – and in turn won the Miner of the Year title and a total of $1300 prizemoney.

A mine operator with Programmed Skilled at Mount Thorley Warkworth, Mr King has mined for opal in Lightning Ridge for more than 15 years.

He has competed in the Miners Challenge for the past eight years and has made the top three each year.

The competition is held annually during the Lightning Ridge Easter Festival, which draws hundreds of visitors to the tiny north-western NSW town.

Check out Mark’s form in the shovelling challenge in the video below.

Here’s a video of the rickshaw challenge.

He was runner-up in the strength challenge.