North-west Qld mining sites face bushfire threat

A wildfire is continuing to burn in the Gunpowder area north-west of Mount Isa, heading towards the Lady Loretta zinc mine after burning around Austral Resources Australia's operations, according to Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. Incident controller Sam Eitz said the fire had travelled from the south of the Lady Annie site in recent days, burning around and through areas of the complex. He said mine staff had been very self-sufficient in dealing with the fire and had been in close communication with Glencore's Lady Loretta site. The fire was now about 8km south of Lady Loretta, he said this afternoon. "And we've been in constant communication in regards to where the fire is and some preparations that the Lady Loretta mine has been enacting as well," he said. "So everyone's been kept well informed about the situation and I believe the Lady Loretta mine has been intensifying their breaks and cutting new breaks where required and planning should the fire progress to that location." A Glencore spokeswoman said Mount Isa Mines was monitoring the fire situation very closely and maintaining regular contact with emergency services. "The health and safety of our people is our top priority. We have enacted our emergency management preparedness and response procedures as expected for these events," she said. "There is no immediate threat to our operations." Mount Isa Mines has provided graders, dozers and water trucks to assist emergency services with fire mitigation around Mount Isa. A significant fire burning east of the city impacted the Lake Moondarra and Breakaway areas over the weekend. Mr Eitz said that while winds had dropped compared to late last week, hot weather would continue this week, with temperatures and wind set to peak around Thursday. "We'd like to thank the community and acknowledge the assistance that we've received from the council and from the mines. Also the volunteers' employers for allowing them to take time off work to assist in the firefighting operations as well," he said. Tara in the Western Downs region has also been at the centre of multiple fires in the past week, claiming life and property. Shell QGC, with multiple gas sites in the region, said it had been closely monitoring the situation with the safety of our people and communities where we operate as the priority. "Fire protection controls are in place at all field infrastructure assets and there is no impact to production or supply," a spokeswoman said. "We have been withdrawing our people from affected areas as a precaution in line with advice from emergency response authorities. "All our wellsites are protected by large firebreaks and the pipelines connecting them are buried underground. Assets are continuously monitored by our fire response team and, in the event that infrastructure needs to be shut off, it can be done so remotely." The spokeswoman said the company was supplying water to Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, the Rural Fire Service and the water air bombers. "Additionally we are helping out with heavy machinery to grade roads and firebreaks where requested by QFES," she said.

North-west Qld mining sites face bushfire threat

Industry Queensland

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