Thursday 8 May 2014

Worker killed by gas at Queensland coal mine.

A worker has been found dead at the Anglo-American operated Grasstree Coal Mine in Queensland. Electrician Paul McGuire was discovered on the afternoon of Tuesday 6 May 2014, having apparently been overcome by gas. Coal is formed when buried organic material, principally wood, in heated and pressurized, forcing off hydrogen and oxygen (i.e. water) and leaving more-or-less pure carbon. Methane is formed by the decay of organic material within the coal. There is typically little pore-space within coal, but the methane can be trapped in a liquid form under pressure. Some countries have started to extract this gas as a fuel in its own right. The Grasstree Mine is known to have a high gas content within its coal, but has safety precautions in place and is not normally considered to have problems with the gas.

The entrance to the Grasstree Mine on Tuesday 6 May 2014. ABC.

Mining operations have been temporarily suspended at the mine, but are expected to be resumed later this week. An investigation into the incident will be mounted by the Queensland Mines Inspectorate on behalf of the coroner, and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, which represents workers at the mine, has announced that it will be carrying out its own, independent, investigation, the results of which will also be presented to the coroner.

See also...


Two miners are missing and an unknown number have been injured...


The town of Morwell roughly 100 km to the east of Melbourne in southern Victoria, Australia, is still blanketed in smoke three...



A worker has been killed at the Mount Lyell Copper Mine at Queenstown, Tasmania, at about 8.00 am on Friday 17 January 2014. George Welsh (53)...



Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.