Tropical Cyclone Debbie is expected to reach the coal mining community of Moranbah in the southwest after crossing land just north of Mackay.

A Glencore spokesman told Australia’s Mining Monthly the company was well prepared for cyclones and floods and had enacted inclement weather procedures at each of its operations to ensure the health and safety of people and the security of mine sites.

“For these types of events we make informed decisions based on consultation and information from government emergency management groups,” he said.

“We are preparing to temporarily suspend production at our Collinsville and Newlands coal mines but do not envisage any impact on our annual production forecasts.”

Glencore has reduced staffing levels at both mines and provided the local workforce with the opportunity to get home to their families and secure personal property.

“It remains business as usual at our Oaky Creek, Clermont and Rolleston coal mines,” the spokesman said.

“Port operations in Townsville, Abbot Point and Dalrymple Bay have been suspended and we are receiving regular updates from their operators.”   

 BHP Billiton’s South Walker Creek mine would remain suspended until the storm threat has passed, a spokesman said.

Gladstone Ports Corporation's three ports of Gladstone, Alma and Bundaberg are still open, however, it has postponed a maintenance outage.

The port authority is working closely with Maritime Safety Queensland to monitor the conditions of the harbour.

At the moment Gladstone is only experiencing the tail of the cyclone and expects tomorrow may bring worse conditions.

On the metals front gold miner Evolution Mining announced yesterday that it had evacuated staff from its Mt Carlton gold operation in Queensland because it would likely be in Debbie’s path.

Resolute Mining has released its Ravenswood staff from duty and has offered the Ravenswood site camp to any local residents seeking safe shelter.Ravenswood is located about 100km inland west of Cape Upstart and 130km south of Townsville and 90km east of Charters Towers. 

Queensland Nickel Sales, the operator of the Queensland Nickel Refinery at Yabulu near Townsville has told the Queensland government that it is "cyclone ready".

According to Queensland Environment and Heritage Protection Minister Steven Miles recent inspections had confirmed good rainfall capacity in storages across its Yabulu site.

"Generators and pumps are clear from inundation and excavators are on site should earthworks be required," Miles said.

"EHP tells me they are confident that the tailing storage facility at the refinery has sufficient storage capacity to handle the heavy rain associated with Tropical Cyclone Debbie.

"The contaminated water storages were observed to have plenty of capacity at this stage."