Sites brace for cyclone fallout as Jasper nears

R3D Resources has halted production at Tartana, which is among a string of regional work sites preparing to deal with severe weather and potential isolation as Tropical Cyclone Jasper bears down on the North. The cyclone is forecast to cross the coast as a category 2 system on Wednesday, most likely between Cooktown and Cairns. “It is disappointing that quarterly production will be lower than expected because of our precautionary measures which included suspending production and preparing the site for the impact of Cyclone Jasper," R3D managing director Stephen Bartrop said. The company noted that high rainfall was likely to flood the Walsh River, restricting access to the mine. The Tartana operation, which produces copper sulphate pentahydrate, is in the Chillagoe region - forecast to be in the firing line for damaging winds after the cyclone has crossed the coast. Construction work is continuing at Genex Power’s Kidston pumped storage hydro project, however some employees based in Cairns and surrounding regions forecast to be impacted by the cyclone have been returning home to secure their own properties. Chief operations officer Arran McGhie said all potentially impacted equipment at the major project had been secured and tied down, while additional pumping capacity had been put in place to protect construction areas where needed. "Given we are not in a flood zone we do not envisage significant impacts on the works," he said. "We also have in place additional material and diesel storage on site to reduce the impact of roads being closed during and after the cyclone passes." Bauxite Hills mine owner Metro Mining has sent home 50 FiFo staff to Cairns, Cooktown and Hopevale from that operation, which lies on the Skardon River on the western side of Cape York Peninsula. They’re being given the chance to secure their family and property in the face of the harsh weather. The company said it had received contact from 10 staff who were off-swing volunteering to return to the site to fill in the gaps. Related: Iltani pulls rig out as Jasper looms off coast Metro Mining operates on a two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off basis. The camp has a capacity of 170 beds and runs at around 150 on-site at any one time. The company was provisioning the camp, mindful not to impact communities that have seen a run on supermarket supplies in the face of the cyclone. Metro said the company was prepared for some disruption in loading off-shore vessels, which is carried out via barge. Other operations on the Cape, including Pacgold’s Alice River exploration camp, are in shutdown for the wet season. Ports North chief executive officer Richard Stevenson said the Regional Harbour Master placed the ports of Cape Flattery, Cooktown, Cairns and Mourilyan on Orange Alert yesterday and vessels had been moving to safer anchorage areas. “The cyclone’s movements remain uncertain, but we note that the Regional Harbour Master has upgraded the alert to Red at 9am this morning which means that all ports will be closed," he said. "We have activated our Extreme Weather Event Management group and we continue to prepare our ports in accordance with our cyclone procedures.” Cairns Airport operations are progressively winding down and will likely cease this evening. Cairns Airport chief executive officer Richard Barker said the domestic and international terminals would not be open on Wednesday. They would recommence when it was safe to do so. “A number of airlines have cancelled or rescheduled services. Customers are advised to contact their airline with any specific enquiries," he said. https://industryqld.com.au/damaging-winds-from-today-as-cyclone-heads-for-qld-coast/

Sites brace for cyclone fallout as Jasper nears

Industry Queensland

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