The danger of treating Grosvenor Mine fire as ‘another’ event

The coal mining industry was at risk of ‘normalising’ incidents like that which led to the recent closure of Grosvenor Mine said the Mining and Energy Union. A fire burning underground at the Anglo American-owned operation near Moranbah in the northern Bowen Basin forced closure of the mine 11 days ago. 1 July - Smoke from the underground fire at Anglo American's Grosvenor Mine in the Northern Bowen Basin There had been a series of near misses in coal mines over recent years that could be instructive union general vice president Steve Smythe said. Related: Turbine switched off as mine fire mitigation continues Anglo American was forced to withdraw staff from their mines 81 times in the last six months due to reportable incidents Mr Smythe said. While it showed how seriously the regulator took mine safety, more could have be taken from each incident he said. “It should be a wake-up call and we shouldn't be normalizing events we're having. “If we have any ignition or gas in the development section or a longwall, we shouldn't say, ‘well guess what? We've had an ignition of gas. Let's do a quick investigation in back to work.’ Main image: Drone shot at Grosvenor Mine “Now every one of those events has the potential to obviously cause something larger and more catastrophic.” Mining and Energy Union general vice president Steve Smythe “We should be taking those near misses as opportunities and looking at our systems, looking at the way we work, looking at how we monitor the gas, if we're using gas drainage … making sure we're keeping an inert atmosphere behind our longwall chocks.” Related: Peabody looks forward to a restart of operations following underground fire Friction ignitions being reported, like one had that forced the closure of Woolongong Coal’s Russell Valley Mine early this year, were more serious said Mr Smythe. “Friction ignition is a real risk,” he said. “Particularly if the source is the shearer or the continuous miner. “Because that's where your high-risk point of the mine is. Where you're mining that coal at that time into an environment that is known to a lesser extent and you're relying on the systems there. “So that's why a friction ignition, people should take and pay a lot of attention to them because the consequence is always high if it goes pear shaped.” Peabody was forced to shut the North Goonyella Mine in 2018 following an underground fire which forced an evacuation during a longwall move. The mine was renamed Centurion in 2023 after the acquisition of an adjacent deposit. There was more to learn from that incident as well said Mr Smythe. “They had a spontaneous combustion event which led to a mine explosion. “They’re probably a good example of an event similar to what Grosvenor is having now where they sealed the whole mine and then they went through a process of having to recover that mine. “And recover in different zones to a point of where they are looking at reopening and getting back on production this year or next year.”

The danger of treating Grosvenor Mine fire as ‘another’ event

Industry Queensland

Related News

Moranbah North tops national rescue titles

Strong showing for Whitehaven’s Qld operations

Cloncurry on alert as bushfire threatens

Get access to breaking mining news, now.