HVO 2009 Annual Environmental Management Report - Final

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Coal & Allied – Hunter Valley Operations 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 SCOPE This Annual Environmental Management Report (AEMR) has been compiled to review the environmental performance of Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) during the 2009 reporting period. The Report has been prepared in accordance with New South Wales Department of Industry & Investment (DII) agreed format and government guidelines to meet the conditions of HVO Development Consents. This report is distributed to: NSW Department of Planning (DoP); NSW Department of Industry & Investment (DII); NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW); Singleton Shire Council (SSC) and Singleton Library; Muswellbrook Shire Council (MSC) and Muswellbrook Library; HVO Community Consultative Committee (CCC); NSW Rural Fire Service; Hunter Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority (CMA); Mine Subsidence Board; and Neighbouring mines – Wambo Mining Corporation, United Collieries and Ravensworth Operations. The reporting period extends from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009. 1.1.1 Background Development Rio Tinto Coal Australia has an agreement to provide management services to Coal & Allied Operations Pty Limited. HVO is managed by Coal & Allied and is situated in the Upper Hunter Valley between Singleton and Muswellbrook, approximately 24km north west of Singleton, and approximately 100km north west of Newcastle (see Figure 1). The integration of various pits and associated facilities forms HVO and has enabled improved operational efficiency, rationalisation of infrastructure and improved resource utilisation. HVO consists of the following areas (as shown in Figure 2): West Pit (previously Howick Pit), including the Howick Coal Preparation Plant (HCPP), Newdell Coal Preparation Plant (NCPP) and Newdell Load Point (NLP); North Pit and Alluvial Lands (previously Hunter Valley Number 1), including the Hunter Valley Load Point (HVLP) and the Hunter Valley Coal Preparation Plant (HVCPP); Carrington Pit; Cheshunt and Riverview Pits, incorporating the new Cheshunt Development and the former Lemington Pit, as well as the Riverview Pit (previously South Pit or Hunter Valley Number 2) and Lemington Coal Preparation Plant (LCPP); and Lemington South Pit. West Pit is one of the oldest established pits in the Hunter Valley, where mining first commenced in 1952. Rio Tinto Coal assumed management of the pit in 1997 following the merger of Rio Tinto Zinc and Conzinc Rio Tinto of Australia. Seven seams (with up to 21 splits) are mined, with consent to mine up to 12 million tonnes per annum Run Of Mine (ROM) coal. Seams dip at an average of 7.5 degrees to the south east with an overburden to coal ratio average of 5.5:1. North Pit commenced coal recovery in 1979 and mining was extended to the alluvial floodplain in 1993, until its conclusion in 2003. Rehabilitation of the area between the Hunter River and the final void was completed in 2008 with the filling of the final void with tailings to be completed in approximately 2020. AEMR 2009 1
Coal & Allied – Hunter Valley Operations Carrington Pit is located on the western boundary of North Pit and commenced operations in November 2000. The seams mined are the Broonies and Bayswater and the pit has consent to mine up to 10 million tonnes per year ROM coal, with all seams dipping at an average of three degrees to the south east. The overburden to coal ratio averages 3.5:1. Cheshunt Pit incorporates the former Lemington North Pit, where the new strip alignment commenced in November 2001. Seams mined in the Cheshunt Pit are Warkworth, Mt Arthur, Piercefield and Vaux seams and the pit has a combined consent with the Riverview Pit to mine up to eight million tonnes per year of ROM coal. Seams predominantly dip at two degrees to the south east with an overburden to coal ratio of around 4:1. Following the grant of the HVO South consent in 2009, the Deep Cheshunt development was commenced. This involves the extraction of Piercefield, Broonies and Bayswater seams with the first strip of Bayswater coal expected to be extracted in early 2011. Riverview Pit commenced mining operations in 1991 and a modification to consent in 2001 allowed for the introduction of a dragline. Coal is extracted from the Glen Munro, Woodlands Hill, Arrowfield and Bowfield seams. The combined consent with Cheshunt Pit allows annual ROM coal production of up to eight million tonnes per year. Predominantly, seams dip at three degrees to the south east and the current overburden to coal strip ratio is approximately 6:1. Lemington South Pit is located on the southern side of the Wollombi Brook and is consented to produce up to 4.4 million tonnes per year of product coal. Mining operations are currently suspended within the Lemington South Pit. 1.1.2 Corporate Environmental Management Strategies All of Coal & Allied’s Hunter Valley mining operations operate under an Environmental Management System (EMS) which is certified to the international standard ISO14001 (2004) by Det Norske Veritas (DNV). The EMS relies upon an environmental policy, a series of regulatory required management plans, a monitoring programme and environmental standards and procedures. The EMS forms the basis for rigorous and consistent environmental management. The EMS is reviewed annually and was audited on three separate occasions during 2009. The effectiveness of the system has been demonstrated through audits, which have shown a consistent trend in environmental improvement throughout the business. As part of the EMS, HVO also has in place a robust Environmental Impacts Risk Register which systematically identifies all the activities related to the mine that could cause environmental harm and applies a risk ranking to these aspects. Those aspects which are subsequently identified with a high level of risk are appropriately managed through procedures, management plans or Environmental Improvement Plans. At the commencement of each calendar year a set of environmental objectives and targets are developed to ensure continuous improvement in environmental performance. Targets and status for 2009, along with those set for 2010, are detailed in Section 3.22. Performance against these targets is reported monthly to employees and contractors. Coal & Allied operates under the Rio Tinto Coal Australia Health, Safety and Environment Policy Statement (Appendix 1). AEMR 2009 2
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HVO 2009 Annual Environmental Management Report - Final

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