Thiess cuts dust and noise emissions at Glencore’s Mt Owen coal mine
Thiess, in partnership with its client Glencore, has come up with a proactive approach to environmental management to ensure dust, noise and blasting emission impacts are minimised on local communities at the Mt Owen coal mine in New South Wales, Australia.
Working together with Glencore, the team has developed a
range of controls including leadership training and education sessions, noise
and dust risk forecasting, targeted sound power testing of operating equipment
and real-time monitoring technology.
Thiess Senior Environment Advisor, Linda Lunnon, said the
real-time data enables the operational team to monitor dust and noise levels
and respond swiftly to changing weather conditions.
“Paired with regular visual inspections, the technology
provides further guidance throughout each shift, enabling our leaders to
readily modify operations as needed,” she said. “The system also triggers SMS
alerts to relevant personnel if dust or noise levels reach a defined threshold.
This provides a prompt for operational staff to reassess controls and implement
further actions if required.”
Lunnon said the forecasting systems also allow the Mt Owen
team to plan for adverse weather conditions.
“Dust and noise are two of the highest environment risks for
our projects in the Hunter Valley, and we are continually monitoring and
refining controls that can assist in managing these risks,” she said.
Thiess’ environment team believes engaging its people is critical
to effectively managing risks.
“We prioritise continued support and coaching of our people
to ensure they understand the context and importance of our environmental
controls and can get optimal value from the systems we’ve developed,” Lunnon
said. “We educate them on the monitoring of data, trends and how they can apply
their knowledge to minimise short-term and longer-term community impacts.”
Thiess Environment and Civil Manager, James Anderson,
recognises his team’s ability to stay abreast of emerging environmental trends
in industry and legislation to reduce risks and identify and action
opportunities for our client.
“Our Mt Owen team works closely with our wider operations in
the Hunter Valley to collaborate on solving problems and achieve tailored dust
and noise management solutions,” Anderson said.
More broadly, the Mt Owen team works with Thiess’ wider
operational and technical teams to design and deliver integrated solutions that
optimise overall mining and rehabilitation efforts.
“Each project leverages our global insight to provide local
value, with our head office team offering industry-leading environmental
insights across each of our operating countries,” Anderson said. “Our proven
experience managing the full suite of environmental services on mine sites
ensures we continually deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients.”
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