A fire that restarted at an underground zinc, lead and silver mine at Broken Hill in New South Wales last week has been successfully extinguished.
The fire originally started at Chinese-owned Perilya’s Broken Hill on Sunday January 12 and was thought to have been swiftly staunched by early the next morning.
A few hours later, on January 13, the fire was reported to have restarted. Originally thought to have occurred around 500m underground, the reignited fire allegedly began spreading to other levels.
An emergency committee was established between Perilya and emergency services in order to combat the blaze.
NSW Police Inspector Chris Wallace said at the time the fire would be tackled from above ground.
“There is absolutely no way anyone is going down that mine whilst that fire is burning and there will be a determination made once the fire is out, [as] to when people will be allowed back down,” he said.
“It’s all about the safety of people … I know there is some concerns about possible toxic smoke that’s coming out of the ventilation shafts.”
All 53 underground workers were evacuated from the mine when the fire was first reported, with no injuries recorded.
Now, the mine fire is reported to have been extinguished, though operations are still suspended at the site.
Broken Hill operations general manager Chris Chindanya told the ABC the mine’s emergency rescue team fully extinguished the source of the blaze using water and foam.
He also said there has already been a significant reduction in heat and gases measured underground.
Perilya will continue to work with the NSW Resources Regulator to determine if there are any remaining risks at the site and what control measures need to be implemented.
The mine’s workforce will be kept up to date on when they can return to work, though safety will be Perilya’s top priority.
Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.
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