Mount Thorley Warkworth
- Overview
- Mining and production
- Sustainable development
- Community engagement
- Library
Mount Thorley Warkworth is committed to sustainable development and ensuring positive environmental, social and economic outcomes for the community in which it operates.
The mine ensures that all employees and visitors comply with Rio Tinto Coal Australia’s environmental management policies to minimise the mine’s impact on the environment and to ensure that mined land is effectively rehabilitated.
Mount Thorley Warkworth has implemented and set aside approximately 1650 hectares of land as Green Offsets to provide long term management and protection to native plants and wildlife.
2008 Sustainable development report
| 2008 | 2007 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employees | 663 males, 47 females, Total 710 | 565 males, 30 females, total 595 | ||
| Saleable production | 9.0 million tonnes | 8.7 million tonnes | ||
| Health & safety LTIFR (200,000) | 0.26 | 0.39 | ||
| Freshwater use (litres per tonne of product coal) | Target 46, 2008 performance 16 | 124 | ||
| Energy use (gigagoules per tonne of equivalent material moved) |
Target 0.011, 2008 performance 0.012 Mount Thorley Warkworth narrowly missed its voluntary energy use target. This was due to the need to operate additional heavy vehicles to meet increased production volumes. These additional vehicles increased the operation’s fuel usage. |
0.012 | ||
| Greenhouse gas emissions (kg -CO2 per tonne of equivalent material moved) |
Target 1.41, 2008 performance 1.42 Mount Thorley Warkworth narrowly missed its voluntary greenhouse gas emissions target due to the reasons outlined above. The site’s increased fuel usage increased its greenhouse gas emissions. |
1.41 | ||
| Annual rehabilitation & disturbance (hectares) |
Target rehabilitation 47, 2008 performance 51 Target disturbance 46, 2008 performance 113 Mount Thorley Warkworth’s disturbance was above target due to a decision taken to alleviate mine scheduling issues that involved advancing the pre-strip operations faster than planned. |
Rehabilitation 69 Disturbance 66 | ||
2008 Highlights
- Mount Thorley Warkworth used 16 litres of freshwater per tonne of product coal in 2008, 30 litres less than targeted. This was assisted by an excess of poor quality water stored in pit following the wet conditions in 2007 and the first half 2008. The mine water management systems were operated to favour extraction from poor water quality sources over river water
- In 2008 we continued a pilot management project at Mount Thorley Warkworth through which Coal & Allied has been investigating the viability of a coal bed methane development project. The pilot is progressing in 2009
- $24.6 million in value were realised at Mount Thorley Warkworth through a combination of productivity and efficiency projects. The project that delivered the most cost savings was the ‘payload optimisation’ programme, which returned $2.4 million in value by teaching operators how to load trucks more effectively and reduced carbon emissions by 3400 tonnes
- Mount Thorley Warkworth was a finalist in the categories of Occupational Health and Safety and Australian Coal Mine of the Year at the 2008 Mining Prospect Awards for its self-locking jack invention. This invention also won the 2008 New South Wales Minerals Council Safety Innovation award
- A project to redirect the haul roads at Mount Thorley Warkworth cut diesel use by 286,000 litres in 2008 and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 810 tonnes
- In 2008 the operation improved the efficiency and coal recovery levels at one of its processing plants by using newly developed flotation technology
- New water carts were introduced at Mount Thorley Warkworth that are more sustainable and safer than the older models
- Mount Thorley Warkworth continued its near neighbour programme throughout 2008 to maintain regular contact and engagement with local stakeholders.