Fears for industry recovery as 75% of Queensland coal mines still pumping rainwater
Perth, Australia (Platts)--3Mar2011/559 pm EST/2259 GMT
Three-quarters of Queensland, Australia's coal mines are still
pumping rainwater from their open-cut pits and coal producers are
growing concerned at the effect more forecast rainfall could have on the
industry's recovery, coal industry body the Queensland Resources Council
said Thursday.
"Three-out-of-four coal mines are still working to remove water from
their properties under special environmental discharge approvals from
the state government," QRC chief executive Michael Roche said in a
statement.
There are 57 operational coal mines in Queensland including export and
non-export mines, according to the QRC an industry body that represents
coal miners in the Australian state including Anglo American, BHP
Biliton, Macarthur Coal and Rio Tinto. Three-quarters of the total means
42 or 43 coal mines being out of action.
"These special discharge approvals are of limited benefit without the
right rainfall pattern, and there is growing concern over the outlook
for continuing rain in the coal regions and the possible formation of
another tropical cyclone," Roche said.
He said the prospect of more heavy rainfall in central Queensland's coal
producing area could hamper existing efforts to pump out rainwater that
had collected in open-cut pits.
"What can be pumped off a site can be replaced just as quickly by such
rainfall, and your flooded coal pit is then right back to square one of
the business recovery phase," added Roche.
Queensland's Department of Environment and Resource Management has taken
a strict approach to the discharge of rainwater that has collected in
open-cut mines in the state.
The department received 41 applications during December 2010 and January
2011 for new or amended Transitional Environmental Programs enabling
mines to safely discharge water, and a further 16 applications were
under assessment, DERM said in a February 11 statement issued to Platts.
DERM said it was aware of "31 potential breaches of environmental
authority conditions for mines across the state this wet season" and
pledged to investigate every one of these cases "with particular
attention to whether the situation could have been avoided or minimized
through better on site preparation or water management infrastructure."
QRC said in its statement that latest coal export data for the month of
February 2011, two months after the state received its heaviest
rainfall, revealed that the Queensland coal industry was presently
operating at around two-thirds of its production capacity compared with
12 months ago.
The industry figures show that 8 million mt of coal exports were shipped
from Queensland in February 2011, compared with 12 million mt of exports
in February 2010.
"This is only one month's worth of exports, but the numbers are
consistent with company reports and the QRC's own estimates of a 30
million mt downturn in coal production in 2010-11 caused by wet season
floods," said Roche.
Production losses stemming from the recent flooding event in the
Australian state are forecast to reach "at least A$5 billion (US$5
billion) this financial year" the QRC said in its statement.
--Mike Cooper,
mike_cooper@platts.com
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