BHP halts Blackwater operations after fatality

12th March 2015 By: Esmarie Iannucci - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia

BHP halts Blackwater operations after fatality

Photo by: Bloomberg

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining giant BHP Billiton has temporarily halted operations at the Blackwater coal mine, in Queensland, following a fatality.

It is understood that a worker was killed in an accident involving a raptor transporter vehicle on Thursday morning.

The authorities had been alerted and were investigating the incident, while BHP was conducting its own investigation into the cause of the accident to ensure that measures were taken to prevent such an accident in the future.

The Blackwater mine is one of five mines jointly owed by BHP and its alliance partner Mitsubishi. The mine has the capacity to produce some 14-million tonnes a year of coal.