The company took its time to decide on the best option to move the ducks without harming them, finally deciding on a gas scare gun to drive them away from the dam.

The ducks had taken up residence in the dam directly linked to the mine’s water filtration plant. Communications manager Rosanne Moore said it was important the company take some action to move the ducks away from that particular dam.

“Nitrogen from bird faeces promotes algae growth, which can block the mine’s water filtration plant filters,” Moore said.

“The ducks were native so we were very reticent to do anything that might harm them.”

The gun is driven by propane gas which, when ignited, lets off a loud blast. The Appin West scare gun fires half-hourly throughout the day.

To avoid disturbing local residents, Illawarra decided after consultations that the gun should be active only during the daytime.

“We don’t let it off at night following that consultation; that was something that we arrived at and to the best of our knowledge there aren’t any great concerns with the way it’s operating.”

Moore said the scare gun had been effective, and the ducks had relocated to another dam on-site that had no impact on the water filtration plant.

“I guess it’s just an example of the lengths that we will go to to be environmentally sensitive.”