North Goonyella fire: Safety report reveals key findings

Workers believed they were containing the reaction - but they were wrong

Smoke billows from the mine at North Goonyella. Picture: Contributed

AS A toxic combination of gases and coal mingled under the surface of Peabody's North Goonyella mine in September last year, teams trying to contain it believed their treatment plan was working.

A new report from Peabody confirms that wasn't the case.

The company's North Goonyella underground mine, 65 km north of Moranbah, was evacuated in early September after high gas levels were recorded during a planned longwall move. Subsequently, elevated carbon monoxide detected from within the mine indicated oxidation of coal.

Peabody worked with industry experts to treat the oxidation from the mine surface, but they couldn't prevent a fire breaking out in late September.

The report into Peabody's "initial learnings" from the incident, released tonight, highlights the difficulties faced by those trying to contain the emergency unfolding deep underground.

The mining company has listed nine steps to improve the longwall move process and other mining activities.

These include reviewing ventilation controls and design used during the longwall take-off process.

Peabody is also taking action to install quickly closable remote ventilation control devices at each mine drift.

One recommendation focuses on evaluating decision-making processes to address the challenges of remotely managing an underground incident solely from the surface, which the company said could lead to "unclear and ambiguous results".

Peabody went on to say that as treatment of the oxidation event escalated... "highly variable gas readings led North Goonyella mine personnel and expert third-parties to believe the treatment plan was likely working due to a purging of gases from the goaf (the mined out area in the panel)".

Within the Site Incident Management Team, Peabody will appoint an "independent facilitator" to assist in the decision-making process.

The report explains that the SIMT was comprised primarily of North Goonyella mine management personnel, with decision-making input from various other parties.

"At times it was challenging for the SIMT to coordinate and address differing viewpoints from multiple stakeholders... the varied viewpoints need to be effectively managed during an incident".

The mining company has confirmed it will not restart longwall production until new safety modifications are brought into the North Goonyalla mine.

Peabody president and chief executive officer Glenn Kellow said September's fire should provide lessons for everyone in the mining industry.

"The goal here is clear, to reduce the risk of such an event reoccurring at North Goonyella or any of our other mines in the future," he said.

Originally published as North Goonyella fire: Safety report reveals key findings