Perth, Australia(Platts) - 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. (By Platts)
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