COVID-19

Queensland miners fly to the rescue

Miners offer Queensland Health and other essential agencies spare seats on FIFO flights.

This article is 5 years old. Images might not display.

 

Australia's Mining Monthly is making some of its most important coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic freely available to readers. For more coverage, please see our COVID-19 hub. To subscribe to AMM, click here.

 

Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian Macfarlane said with the slashing of commercial air services to regional Queensland limiting travel options for those in regional communities, miners were stepping up to offer Queensland Health and other essential agencies any spare seats on their charter flights.

Seats are also available for people who need to urgently travel for health or family reasons.

Macfarlane said local hospitals, medical centres and pathology collection centres in regional towns and cities could also use FIFO charter flights to transport medical and pathology samples.

"Our sector is committed to a ‘people first' response to COVID-19 and is not only ensuring we protect our workers but also the communities in which we operate," he said.

Macfarlane said the thresholds for the testing of resource industry workers for the coronavirus had been removed so any worker with symptoms could get tested immediately.

He said that testing prerequisites for contact with a diagnosed person or a person who hds travelled interstate or overseas no longer applied to resource industry workers.

"While these are difficult times amid the COVID-19 response, the resources industry will continue to strictly adhere to the advice of the state's Chief Health Officer and play a central role in the economic productivity of the state and lives of all Queenslanders," Macfarlane said.

Expert-led Insights reports built on robust data, rigorous analysis and expert commentary covering mining Exploration, Future Fleets, Automation and Digitalisation, and ESG.

Expert-led Insights reports built on robust data, rigorous analysis and expert commentary covering mining Exploration, Future Fleets, Automation and Digitalisation, and ESG.

editions

ESG Index 2025: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Index provides an in-depth evaluation of the ESG performance of 60+ of the world’s largest mining companies. It assesses companies across 10 weighted indicators within 6 essential ESG pillars.

editions

Automation and Digitalisation Insights 2025

Discover how mining companies and investors are adopting, deploying and evaluating new technologies.

editions

Mining IQ Exploration Insights 2025

Gain exclusive insights into the world of exploration in a comprehensive review of the top trending technologies, intercepts, discoveries and more.

editions

Future Fleets Insights 2025

Mining IQ Future Fleets Insights 2025 looks at how companies are using alternative energy sources to cut greenhouse gas emmissions