Hail Creek Mine
- Overview
- Mining and production
- Sustainable development
- Community engagement
- Library
Hail Creek Mine is committed to sustainable development and ensuring positive environmental, social and economic outcomes for the community in which it operates.
The mine ensures all employees and visitors comply with Rio Tinto Coal Australia's approach to environmental management to minimise the mine’s impact on the environment and to ensure that mined land is effectively rehabilitated.
Hail Creek Mine is also committed to making a sustained contribution to social and economic well being of the Mackay and Nebo region. Through Rio Tinto Coal Australia's community relations programme and the Hail Creek Mine Community Development Fund, the mine is working to help provide positive long term outcomes for the region.
2008 Sustainable development report
| 2008 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|
| Employees | 379 males, 57 females, total 436 | 298 males, 56 females, Total 354 |
| Saleable production | 6.1 million tonnes | 5.0 million tonnes |
| Health & safety LTIFR (200,000) | 0.33 | 0.96 |
| Freshwater use (litres per tonne of product coal) |
Target 1200, 2008 performance 1337 Hail Creek Mine used more freshwater than targeted in 2008 due to dewatering the pit following flooding early in the year. |
1864 |
| Energy use (gigagoules per tonne of equivalent material moved) | Target 0.010, 2008 performance 0.010 | 0.009 |
| Greenhouse gas emissions (kg -CO2 per tonne of equivalent material moved) | Target 1.40, 2008 performance 1.35 | 1.30 |
| Annual rehabilitation & disturbance (hectares) |
Target rehabilitation 36, 2008 performance 39 Target disturbance 145, 2008 performance 81 |
Rehabilitation 0 Disturbance 258 |
| Community | The Hail Creek Mine Community Development Fund provided $84,060 to 11 projects in 2008, including funding to help the Mackay Manufacturing and Engineering College employ as business manager, and a weed control and revegetation programme at MacKillop Catholic Primary School. | The Hail Creek Mine Community Development Fund provided $208,500 to 14 programmes in 2007. |
2008 Highlights
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Hail Creek Mine’s 2008 greenhouse gas emissions were well below target, thanks to proactive energy management programmes. For example, the payload optimisation programme, which started in August 2008, is helping to teach operators how to load trucks more effectively. This is forecast to help save 1,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year
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Hail Creek Mine was awarded the prestigious Coal Mine of the Year award at the 2008 Mining Prospect Awards in Sydney. The mine was recognised for its achievements in safety, community relations and employee programmes, highlighting best practice and innovation in the coal mining industry
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Hail Creek Mine was honoured as a state finalist for the Innovation Award at the 2008 Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Innovation Awards. The award was for a dragline improvement project that reduces downtime, saves costs and removes the need for maintenance crews to work 70 metres off the ground, improving safety
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The 'Road Safe September' programme at Hail Creek Mine, which focused on promoting safe driving behaviour on the road travelled by Hail Creek Mine employees and families, was awarded the 2008 Queensland Road Safety Award. The award recognises outstanding initiatives, inventions and innovations designed to improve road safety in Queensland
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Hail Creek Mine's emergency response team came second in the 2008 Queensland Open Cut Mines Rescue Service competition. The team competed strongly with its finely tuned emergency management procedures, taking home first place in the Road Accident Rescue category and missing out on first place overall by just three per cent
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Hail Creek Mine was a finalist in the Workforce Planning Award at the 2008 Mining Industry Skills Centre Training Awards for its award-winning recruitment campaign to attract women into non-traditional roles
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The Wiri Yuwiburra Community Benefits Trust became operational in 2008, with a view to providing funding opportunities to help build capacity among Traditional Owners
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In August 2008, Hail Creek Mine celebrated five years of operations with a Family Muster day, attended by more than 500 employees and their families
- Coal handling and preparation plant improvement projects at Hail Creek Mine delivered more than $52 million of the $78.2 million in improvements for the site. These projects included tuning control loops, controlling dense medium cyclone feed and improving the accuracy and stability of density control - all resulting in a more efficient process.