In his presentation on the economic and social consequences of the growth of the coal industry at the Bowen Basin Coal Conference last week, Rolfe used research from mining companies, the Queensland government and the Australian Coal Association Research Program to conclude that coal miners were becoming more mobile.

Block shift work patterns and work camp arrangements throughout the industry have allowed for workers to come from a wide geographic region, with Rolfe providing an estimate that up to 4000 non-resident workers are already cycling through the coal mining town of Moranbah, which has been estimated to have a population of around 10,000.

While noting there is a general trend for workers to prefer the commute and work camp approach – with housing availability and prices being a contributing factor – from research he said many miners, such as those with younger children or female miners, often preferred to live locally in mining towns.

When questioned on his views on the coal sector after the conference Rolfe told International Longwall News that information about the underlying demand for commodities suggests there will only be a modest downturn in demand.

“There have not been any major projects cancelled or delayed so far, so the fall-off in coal should be much less than in minerals – I think we will see a slowdown in development, but little other effects,” he said.

“This is actually a good thing as it will allow some planning processes to catch up, and may minimise some potential negative impacts of multiple projects going ahead at the same time.”