Former BHP vice president and current Automated Positioning Systems founder Chris Seymour detailed in his paper, ‘Mining disasters – what lessons can be learnt?’ presented at the Queensland Mining Industry Health & Safety Conference, many of the mining disasters in English speaking countries in the past forty-five years with an eye towards patterns and similarities for gaining an insight into prevention.
Below is a selection of underground disasters that cover explosions, fires, flooding, ground collapse and toxic gas.
Farmington: In 1968 at the Consol No. 9 room and pillar mine in Farmington, an explosion killed 78 miners. Prior to the explosion inspectors had reported float dust accumulations throughout the mine, which a post-accident report blamed for the ignition. The report said the coal dust accumulations, poor rock dusting practices, inadequate ventilation and low barometric pressure supplied the fuel for the explosion. The accident resulted in changes to the Federal Coal Mine Safety & Health Act.
Hyden: In 1970 an explosion ripped through the Hyden room and pillar mine in Kentucky killing all 38 employees in the mine. The mine had been cited in three previous MESA inspections for excessive accumulations of coal dust. It found a coal dust explosion had been initiated by a banned explosive, later found in the office of chief executive officer Charles Finley after the explosion.
Box Flat: A July 1972 explosion following a fire killed 17 men in the Box Flat mines near Ipswich in Queensland. The fire, which started by spontaneous combustion in fallen coal in a cross cut between two intake airways, proved to be uncontrollable despite several attempts to put it out. The official inquiry concluded that explosive gasses built up in the recirculated air, eventually causing an explosion, which set off a larger coal dust explosion.
Kianga Mine: In 1976 13 miners were killed in an underground explosion at the Kianga room and pillar mine near Moura. The explosion occurred in a sealed section of the mine where methane rose above the 5% explosive limit.
Scotia:Two explosions only two days apart killed 26 people at the Scotia room and pillar coal mine in Kentucky in 1976. The initial explosion was methane, ignited by an electric arc or spark from a battery-powered locomotive. A second explosion occurred at the same location in the mine two days later – killing 11 recovery workers. The post-accident report was not released for 16 years; eventually, strengthening of mine legislation and a transfer in responsibility from the US Interior Department to the Department of Labour was eventually made. Three of the mine executives were jailed.
Appin: An explosion in 1979 at the Appin mine in New South Wales killed 14 miners. A change in the ventilation flow resulted in an accumulation of gas in a 50m-long roadway. The source of ignition was never definitively established but reports thought it to be most likely the starter was an exhaust fan motor, which was found to be not flameproof, and a deputy’s defective flame safety lamp.
Moura: The Moura No. 4 room and pillar mine in Queensland suffered an explosion 1986 that caused twelve fatalities. The mine used partial pillar recovery and left the extracted areas unventilated, which resulted in a build up in methane levels to above the explosive range. A sudden roof fall in an unventilated goaf resulted in methane gas being pushed out into active workings. The post-accident inquiry found prolonged exposure of a deputy’s flame lamp to elevated methane levels and coal dust resulted in the metal gauze igniting methane outside the lamp. The inquiry subsequently banned flame safety lamps in Queensland.
Williams Station: The Pyro Mining Company’s Williams Station longwall in Kentucky experienced an explosion in 1989 that resulted in the deaths of 10 miners. The explosion took place during a longwall move where changes to the ventilation did not receive proper planning or approval. The change resulted in explosive levels of methane passing onto the old longwall face. The explosive levels were detected but not acted on. Three mine executives were imprisoned over the accident.
Southmountain: In 1992 an explosion at the Southmountain No. 3 in Virginia killed eight miners. The explosion was caused by an accumulation of methane due to poor ventilation practices, and ignited by a cigarette lighter. MSHA prosecuted the mine and five individuals, exacting $US2.1 million in fines.
Moura: The Moura No. 2 room and pillar mine in Queensland experienced an explosion in 1994 that resulted in the deaths of ten employees and one contractor. One week before the explosion, management had suspected spontaneous combustion in an almost completed extraction panel and had sealed the section over the weekend. The area was monitored and Graham’s ratio levels showed no risk of spontaneous combustion. Production was started at 11pm on a Sunday despite the monitoring equipment showing methane in the sealed atmosphere would reach explosive levels at about 11:30pm.
Shortly after production began there was a rapid rise in carbon monoxide levels indicating combustion. This should have triggered a mine evacuation except the tube sample system had an inherent forty-minute delay. By the time the higher gas levels showed up on the surface monitoring equipment the mine had already exploded, with the loss of 11 lives. Thirteen miners working in a different part of the mine escaped – largely due to the leadership skills of the deputy who gathered them together, ensured their self rescuers were working and led them on a forty-five minute journey in thick smoke out of the mine.
Brookwood: Two explosions at the Brookwood longwall mine in Alabama in 2001 killed 13 miners. The first explosion at a battery-charging station injured two employees, but due to confusion and the absence of a clear chain of command, evacuation of the rest of the mine and rescue efforts for the injured miners was poorly executed. The first explosion had damaged the signalling system, which sparked and set off a second explosion, killing 13 miners.
Bulli: A fire at the Bulli mine in New South Wales in...click here to read on.
