Water at Baralaba

Water is a valuable, shared resource in our community and as such our philosophy is to use as little water as practical.

The Baralaba North Mine is located on the northern floodplain of the lower Dawson River. An anabranch of the Dawson River separates Baralaba North from Baralaba Central. The mine has a substantial water allocation from the Dawson River however, due to our significant capture process for mine runoff, Baralaba is able to reduce the amount of water it draws from the river.

As well as harvesting the majority of water from site, Baralaba has a comprehensive Water Management Plan (WMP) in place to examine and address issues relevant to the importation, generation, use, and management of water at the Baralaba North Mine in order to minimise the quantity of mine-affected water required to be released from site and prevent the uncontrolled release of mine affected water from the site.

Our Water Management Plan includes:

Environmental values associated with surface water and groundwater at the site.

A study of potential sources of contamination at the site, including the potential for saline and acid rock drainage.

Site water management infrastructure.

Site water balance model.

Potential impacts of mining on surface water and groundwater environmental values.

Emergency and contingency planning for potential emergency scenarios.

Roles and responsibilities for the WMP

Review and continual improvement process for the WMP.

Groundwater

The Baralaba North Mine is underlain by two main aquifer types, Tertiary and Quaternary alluvial aquifers, and Permian coal seam aquifers. The Tertiary alluvium underlies most of the Baralaba North area, while the Quaternary alluvium is localised along the Dawson River anabranch and the Dawson River.

In 2021, the Baralaba Coal Mine groundwater monitoring network was expanded to include 13 additional bores. Monitoring data from these bores will inform future revisions of the Water Management Plan.

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Rehabilitation

A major consideration of any mining operation is how we leave the land post operations. We are morally and legally obliged to rehabilitate any and all land we disturb during the operations of our sites. At Baralaba we take these obligations seriously and, as part of our commitment to being a responsible operator and in line with our environmental approvals, we undertake progressive rehabilitation of our mined land.

Safety is our focus

The health, safety, and wellbeing of our employees is a major priority for Baralaba and our service providers.

Our employees are our greatest asset and strive to promote a work culture that reflects our commitment to health, safety, and wellbeing.

We seek to minimise the potential for workplace injuries as much as possible.