Inquiry to probe Queensland Anglo American Grosvenor coalmine explosion
The rare mine safety board of inquiry has been called to examine the incident that left five miners fighting for their lives.
An inquiry will be held into the gas explosion last week at Anglo American’s Grosvenor underground coalmine which left five miners seriously burnt and fighting for their lives.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham announced Monday that the government had commissioned the rare mine safety board of inquiry into what led to the explosion.
It follows revelations by The Australian that the underground coalmine in central Queensland was forced to stop work repeatedly due to high methane levels in the days before the May 6 tragedy.
Underground sensors at the central Queensland metallurgical coalmine were repeatedly triggered by elevated methane levels in the past week, causing the automatic shutdown of power and forcing work to stop for up to two hours at a time.
Four suffered burns to their lungs, throats and faces, and all five are understood to have been hit with a blast so powerful it melted their helmets and burnt their uniforms.
The men were flown to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and are believed to be still in critical conditions.
Mines Inspectorate officials sent to the company’s metalliferous coalmine at Moranbah have been unable to determine the cause of the explosion.
It was revealed in The Weekend Australian that Senior Anglo American executives lobbied Dr Lynham to change new gas monitoring regulations designed to prevent underground explosions in the weeks before the coalmine exploded.
In a face-to-face meeting in Dr Lynham’s office last month, the executives allegedly argued the new regulations were too onerous and should be relaxed, an argument Dr Lynham rejected.
In a statement on Monday, Dr Lynham said a retired judge or Queens Counsel will head the inquiry.
“Last week’s underground gas explosion is something the industry has not experienced for more than quarter of a century,” Dr Lynham said.
“An underground gas explosion in a coal mine is simply unacceptable in the 21st century.
“As serious as it was, it could have been far worse, as every underground coal miner and their families know.
“The inquiries that followed the underground gas explosions at Moura changed mine safety in Queensland.
“This latest board of inquiry is an opportunity to continue this government’s sweeping reforms to protect mine workers.”
Meanwhile, labour hire company One Key Resources confirmed it was the employer of the five injured men.
One Key managing director Glenn Triggs said the company was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the accident and was offering counselling for its employees and their families.
“The status of the five workers remains unchanged with four listed as critical and one stable,” Mr Triggs said.
“Our thoughts are very much with our five injured colleagues, their families and all our One Key employees. This is having a terrible impact on the families, and we would like the families to know they are in the thoughts of everyone in the company.”
“We are completely committed to working with authorities to fully understand what has happened with this incident.”
“We have been extremely heartened by the fundraising for our colleagues and have made an initial contribution to show our support. We would also like to thank the first responders and the medical staff currently caring for our employees.”
Chief executive of Anglo American’s Metallurgical Coal business Tyler Mitchelson issued a statement after the announcement saying the company would “fully cooperate” with the inquiry.
“We want answers as to why an ignition of methane occurred at Grosvenor mine and we understand that everyone else does too,’’ he said.
“We have already commenced our own technical review into the incident with industry experts, including in the areas of methane and ventilation management and forensic fire analysis.
“We will not recommence mining at Grosvenor until we know what happened and how we can prevent it happening again.”
