BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal’s Dendrobium mine began longwall operations in April 2005 and it was soon realised a sizer was required to handle large chunks of coal being excavated.

The mine is located near the Mt Kembla village that has a population of about 700 in the Illawarra region of New South Wales.

After assessing other alternatives the company engaged in a thorough community relations process, making adjustments to its original plans for the sizer to increase dust control levels, lessen noise and make the equipment more aesthetically pleasing.

A BHP Illawarra Coal spokesperson said the company went through its standard community relations program and the redesigned plans were approved by the Department of Planning in April 2006.

Operations manager David Oliver shared the company’s processes with delegates at a community and environmental issues conference earlier this month and said that while the design for the sizer was specific to the Dendrobium site, lessons learnt in the redesign process could be applicable for other operations.

Incorporating community feedback and advice from technical, acoustic and air quality consultants the resulting design included:

A fully enclosed sizer within concrete wall panels and an insulated double-skin, steel-lined roof;

Doors that were fitted with self-closing actuators and seals fitted to minimise noise leakage from the building;

Water spray bars that were installed on the sizer’s entry and exit conveyor systems;

Coffin seals located at entry and exit points to reduce dust emissions;

De-dusting of exhaust air from the ventilation fan which occurs prior to release;

The enclosure colour blends into the surrounding environment; and

Trees were planted to reduce visual impacts from public viewing points on the local road.

Oliver said noise and air quality monitoring results were well within the predicted levels and BHP Illawarra Coal has received no complaints since the $A6 million sizer was commissioned in March 2007.