Blair Athol Mine
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- Overview
- Mining and processing
- Sustainable development
Blair Athol Mine 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 approach to minimise the mine's impact on the environment and to ensure that mined land is effectively rehabilitated.
Blair Athol Mine seeks to be more than just a major source of local employment and economic growth, rather to work in partnership with the local community. Through Rio Tinto Coal Australia's community relations programme and the Blair Athol Mine Community Development Fund the mine is working to help provide positive long term outcomes for the Clermont region prior to the opening of the Clermont Mine.
The Clermont Community Consultative Committee (CCC) includes members of the Clermont community and representatives from Rio Tinto Coal Australia. The group meets quarterly to discuss the Clermont Mine Project and Blair Athol Mine. CCC documents including meeting minutes, key points from meetings and the CCC Charter can be found in the reports and publications section.
2007 Sustainable development report
| 2007 | 2006 | |
|---|---|---|
| Employees | 203 males, 22 females, Total 225 | 180 males, 14 females, Total 194 |
| Saleable production | 7.9 million tonnes | 10.2 million tonnes |
| Health & safety LTIFR (200,000) | Target 0.54, 2007 performance 1.09 | 0.60 |
| Freshwater use (litres per tonne of product coal) | Target 69, 2007 performance 99 | 94 |
| Energy use (gigagoules per tonne of product coal) | Target 0.051, 2007 performance 0.074 | 0.060 |
| Greenhouse gas emissions (kg -CO2 per tonne of product coal) | Target 7.8, 2007 performance 10.7. Greenhouse gas emissions were relatively high due to increased transportation required for rehabilitation commitments, involving the transportation of top soil. | 9.54 |
| Annual rehabilitation & disturbance (hectares) | Target rehabilitation 63, 2007 performance 64. Target disturbance 95, 2007 performance 54. With the mine working towards closure in 2015, 4.5 hectares of research trials of a range of seeds were planted in 2007. | Rehabilitation 44, Disturbance 20. |
| Community | The Blair Athol Mine Community Development Fund committed $209,576 to ten projects aimed at providing positive benefits to the Clermont community. | The Blair Athol Mine Community Development Fund provided $249,464 in funding to 12 community projects. |
2007 Highlights
• The mobile equipment team developed the Hatcher Hatch - a device which enables the rear window of a shovel ute to be easily cleaned, improving rear vision.
• Business improvement programme delivered $4 million in value.
• The production and environmental teams worked together to rehabilitate 63.5 hectares of mining lease in 2007, including 4.5 hectares of research trials.
• Closure planning was ongoing due to closure in 2011.
• Blair Athol Mine's energy use and greenhouse gas emissions were below target for 2007 due to below plan coal production.
• Marketable reserves at 37.2 on tonnes at 31 December 2007.
