Report reveals likely cause of disaster at Anglo American’s Grosvenor mine
The board of inquiry has revealed what sparked two ‘pressure waves’ that left five miners with horrific burns injuries.
Mackay
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A report has lifted the lid on the cause of one of the worst Queensland mining disasters in recent years, revealing the source of two “pressure waves” that left five men with horrific burns injuries.
Part two of the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry’s report into the Grosvenor mine explosion, tabled on Monday, found the likely cause of the first pressure wave was a methane explosion in the goaf, sparked by spontaneous combustion.
This first pressure wave was of such force that one of the injured miners, Wayne Sellars, described it as being like “standing in a cyclone”.
The report found a “flame front” which burned the five miners closest to the tailgate end of the longwall face coincided with a second pressure wave about 15 seconds after the first.
It stated the cause of the second pressure wave was a methane deflagration on the longwall face.
“The probable ignition source for the methane deflagration on the longwall face was the (pumping of polyurethane resin) initiated heating of coal to thermal runaway, which ignited an explosible atmosphere behind the longwall in the vicinity of shield (number) 111, resulting in a flame propagating onto the longwall face,” the report stated.
In the wake of the disaster, the Board of Inquiry recommended coal mines carry out a management practice for oxygen concentrations at goaf drainage wells to be maintained at no more than five per cent.
The board also called for coal mines to give all underground workers a personal proximity device that allows location tracking for the entire time they are underground.
It recommended coal mines also conduct a thorough risk assessment for the use of polymeric chemicals, especially polyurethane resins.
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