With increased water flows as a result of recent rain, the conveyor has been taken offline until water levels reduce. Work is underway to reinstate a second conveyor and this is expected to be completed by mid-July.
A section of the Morwell River Diversion at the mine collapsed on June 6, 2012, damaging the main conveyor system. One of the main conveyors was reinstated earlier last week.
To manage the Morwell River flows the response teams at the mine created a channel to allow the water to run into an unused part of the mine. Depending on additional river flows as a result of current rainfall water may also be redirected temporarily into the East Field mine which will further reduce coaling activities.
Work is underway to put in a pump and piping system capable of handling normal Morwell River flows through the MRD, but this will not be completed until end of July.
Pumping of river water from the mine into the Latrobe River will continue under EPA supervision.
Yallourn is Australia’s second largest open cut mine and annually mines around 18 million tonnes of high-moisture brown coal.
It is operated in an alliance by Roche Thiess Linfox Joint Venture.