Anglo to approach mine safety incidents separately

Anglo American says there is no correlation between incidents that shut down its two Queensland mines in the last 12 months. Moranbah North was shut down last month on elevated gas readings. An incident at Grosvenor Mine in May last year resulted in an underground explosion which left five men seriously injured. CEO of Anglo American’s Metallurgical Coal business, Tyler Mitchelson, says they had begun a series of briefings to update the Queensland workforce on the investigation and re-entry process to Moranbah North. The Grosvenor event is the subject of a coal Board of Inquiry due to resume next week. “We immediately commenced a controlled withdrawal of our people from underground on 20 February, when we received confirmation of elevated readings of the gases that would indicate a coal heating event and require the activation of a response plan (TARP),” Mr Mitchelson says. “Based on our review of the evidence, we do not believe an ignition has occurred, and the most likely cause of the incident was coal heating and a large goaf fall behind the longwall face. "This was a completely different incident to the methane ignition at Grosvenor Mine on 6 May 2020. “Our Moranbah North team immediately took a number of steps to manage the incident, and goaf conditions normalised shortly after the incident occurred. CEO of Anglo American’s Metallurgical Coal business Tyler Mitchelson “Expert technical advice is informing our risk assessment process, which is currently underway with a cross-section of the workforce, and includes a review of measures to prevent a reoccurrence.” Anglo American gave notice on February 25 of a force majeure event in respect of Moranbah North mine metallurgical coal products. Expanded board of inquiry CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland president Stephen Smyth has written to Resources Minister Scott Stewart about his concerns on the similarities between events at Moranbah North and those at Grosvenor mine last May, when an underground explosion seriously injured five workers. The union is calling for the following steps to be taken: Board of Inquiry terms of reference broadened to include scrutiny of Moranbah North; Change to the Coal Mine Safety and Health Act so key witnesses can be compelled to give evidence to the Inquiry regardless of self-incrimination privileges; Change to the Act to boost protections against reprisal and potential prosecution for workers who give evidence to the Inquiry. . The Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry was established to look into the underground explosion at Anglo American’s Grosvenor mine on May 6 last year, as well as various high potential incidents involving exceedances of methane limits in other longwall mines in the year leading up to that incident. It is due to begin a second round of public hearings at the Brisbane Magistrates Court from March 9 Mr Mitchelson says the mines processes worked to maintain safety and are they were always striving to find solutions to detect and address issues before they arise. “We are currently using proven industry methods to manage spontaneous combustion risk in our mines, and will continue to seek out and assess other methods that may provide a higher level of control. “Over the past 12 months, we have put in place a range of measures to improve our controls, such as creating a new Met Coal Analytics Centre to enhance our predictive capabilities in gas and strata, investing in additional surface infrastructure and fast-tracking technology solutions. “Technological solutions offer the best opportunity to deliver a step-change improvement in safety in underground mining and we are leveraging our scale in underground coal mining and investing in a number of areas. “Moranbah North is piloting some of this pioneering work including remote longwall operation and other technological innovations. “We are continuing to engage closely with our workforce and union representatives, and continue to welcome any feedback they have to improve safety at our mines.”

Anglo to approach mine safety incidents separately

Industry Queensland

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