McArthur River Mine update post Cyclone Megan

Media statement
McArthur River Mine, Northern Territory

Glencore wants to sincerely thank our entire workforce at McArthur River Mine (MRM) for their patience and continued commitment to working safely and responsibly during the recent disruptions caused by Cyclone Megan.

MRM began preparations a week before the weather event, including activating our internal Incident Management Team (IMT), ensuring the security of our operations and checking key water infrastructure onsite.

We understand communities in the local region have been severely impacted by this extraordinary weather event. We have supported community in several ways, including through:

• Readiness to evacuate Borroloola residents
• Provision of flood level information to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM)
• Support for Borroloola residents both in town and those evacuated to Darwin
• Helicopter support for multiple evacuations of families and medical emergencies
• Provision of aerial road surveys to the NT Government
• Provision of support to Telstra for the restart of regional tower communications
• Evacuation of local pastoral stations and provision of accommodation at the MRM Village

MRM temporarily ceased operations on 18 March and personnel were returned to the accommodation village. The cyclone passed to the east of MRM in the early hours of 19 March, bringing with it an unprecedented rainfall event of 274mm in a 24-hour period which surpassed a 50-year-old rainfall record of 197mm in 1974.

Following these events, MRM personnel mobilised to carry out initial assessments on all of our key operational domains and water infrastructure onsite – we are continuing to do these assessments on a daily basis.

MRM sourced a helicopter prior to the cyclone in anticipation of increased water levels and flooding to enable continued monitoring of infrastructure and sampling of water sources.

Below is the current update on site operations.

1. Tailings Storage Facility (TSF)
   • At no point was the TSF at risk of releasing water into the environment.
   • The TSF has been extremely well managed, a testament to our processes and skilled operators.
   • The TSF has performed as designed and its structural integrity has not been compromised.
2. Waste Rock Pile
   • The waste rock pile is an engineered facility which has been designed to withstand rainfall and flood events.
   • The stability and integrity of the waste rock pile has not been impacted by the cyclone or flooding.
   • There has NOT been any landslide or collapse of the waste rock pile.
   • There has been some superficial erosion of a drainage channel that directs runoff from the surface of the waste rock pile into water dams as designed.  This type of erosion is to be expected following such a significant rain event.
3. Mine Open Pit
   • There is water in the bottom of the open pit from the significant rainfall, natural groundwater inflows and operational water being directed to the open pit for containment and management.
   • Mining operations in the upper areas of the mine are being safely brought back online in a phased manner.
   • Our geotechnical team conducts daily assessments of the open pit, which includes assessing data from our radar and other monitoring systems.
4. Flood Levee Wall
   • MRM’s flood levee wall is designed to withstand a 1 in 500-year flood event.
   • The flood protection levee around the open pit performed as per design.
   • Our daily inspections after the event indicate no areas of concern.
5. McArthur River
   • We have continued to monitor water quality of the McArthur River by using helicopters to take samples as necessary where we can safely access.
   • Testing confirms water quality is good. Sampling data from the McArthur River shows all water quality measures at our compliance point downstream from the mine continue to be met.
   • MRM is discharging water off site in accordance with our approved waste discharge licence.

MRM continues to operate openly and transparently.  It has been a challenging period for people in the community as well as our workforce at the mine site.  We continue to monitor, review, and assess all of our key infrastructure at site to continue to minimise impact to the environment.

We have also included a Questions and Answers section for topics which have been raised by community, Traditional Owners and media.

Questions and Answers

1. What has MRM been doing to protect its people during this weather event?

• The safety of our people has been paramount throughout this very challenging week of unprecedented rainfall at our mine site and the Bing Bong Loading Facility.
• All of our people are safe and we’ve been able to ensure they have had access to safe accommodation, food and water throughout the events of the past week, despite some very real challenges.
• We are very proud of our workforce for the resilience, dedication and patience they have shown throughout the past week.

2. Was MRM properly prepared for the scale and duration of this weather event?

• We began preparations for the weather event on Tuesday 12 March, upon first indication that a cyclone could potentially form in the Gulf Region.
• We convened our Incident Management Team, which met daily, and participated in the Local Emergency Committee meetings organised by Borroloola Police. We arranged daily updates with the Bureau of Meteorology so we were across accurate and timely information.
• We thoroughly checked all key water infrastructure including dams, piping and pumps, which were found to be in good condition.
• Cyclone checklists were distributed to MRM departments on Wednesday 13 March to guide preparations in each area of the mine site and Bing Bong.
• We took action to ensure sufficient quantities of food, water and medicines were supplied to the mine site in advance of the cyclone making landfall.

3. When did MRM make the decision to suspend operations?

• Throughout the weather event, MRM has been closely following guidance provided by the Bureau of Meteorology and made a number of early decisions in anticipation.
• On Saturday 16 March, we made the decision to evacuate our people from Bing Bong Loading Facility ahead of flooding which was expected to close roads and isolate them.
• We temporarily stopped mining operations at MRM on the afternoon of Monday 18 March.

4. Media reported that workers were stuck overnight in administration buildings. Is this correct?

• As a result of rising floodwaters on Wednesday 20 March, the internal road between the MRM village and operational areas was cut off.  
• This meant 208 workers, including the MRM management team, spent the night in administration buildings.  
• All of these workers were safe and had access to dry shelter, plentiful food, water medical support and shower facilities throughout this time, as well as access to uninterrupted power. 
• On Thursday 21 March we constructed a temporary 4WD road connecting the operations area with the MRM village and we also used a helicopter to safely move people between these locations.  All individuals had been relocated to the village by 7.30pm that day.
• All employees were provided access to a trained psychologist who flew to site on the weekend to take appointments.

5. Media also reported that two workers were swept out of a vehicle by fast moving floodwaters. Is this correct, and could this have been prevented?

• On Wednesday 20 March, flooding of an internal road on our mine site led to a vehicle with two of our people in it being swept into the water when a causeway failed.
• Our Emergency Response Team successfully rescued both workers, who were thoroughly assessed by medical teams. Both are physically well, though were understandably shaken from the event.
• Flooding at the causeway far exceeded any predictions from our extensive water inundation modelling and the workers were on their way back to camp when this incident occurred.

6. What has MRM done to support the local communities?

We have supported the community in a number of ways, including:

• Support for evacuated Borroloola residents: We’ve been working with evacuated residents in the Darwin evacuation centres, helping them to make contact with family members who have been separated from them.
• Provision of flood levels to the Bureau of Meteorology: With the Telstra outage, emergency services did not have access to upstream flood gauging stations to assess the potential impacts of flooding in the region. Data from physical observations in the field at the mine site were fed to the Bureau of Meteorology, which led to a reassessment of predicted flood levels in Borroloola.
• Support for Borroloola residents still at home: About 16 Borroloola residents have stayed with one of our staff members in our Borroloola office, as they do not have access to safe housing. The MRM Community Benefits Trust has also funded the provision of supplies for food parcels that have been distributed in the community.
• Helicopter support: We’ve had a helicopter onsite to support our own needs and have also used these to transport people in need, including a heavily-pregnant lady, a family of three from Manangoora Station, nine people from the McArthur River pastoral station and an elderly gentleman from Heartbreak Hotel.
• Readiness to evacuate Borroloola residents: We offered services to help evacuate Borroloola residents on Monday 18 March, including having 12 buses on standby to collect 200 people at a time from town. Unfortunately, by this stage the road had become impassable as a result of flooding, so we were unable to assist.

7. What is the current status?

• We are now beginning the process of safely returning to normal operations.
• We will continue to assess ways in which we can help the local community in the days ahead.

For further information, please contact:

Tracy Jones
m: +61 418 251 774
e: Tracy Jones

Francis De Rosa
m: +61 417 074 751
e: Francis De Rosa

Notes for editors

About Glencore

Glencore is one of the world’s largest global diversified natural resource companies and a major producer and marketer of more than 60 commodities that advance everyday life. Through a network of assets, customers and suppliers that spans the globe, we produce, process, recycle, source, market and distribute the commodities that support decarbonisation while meeting the energy needs of today.

With over 150,000 employees and contractors and a strong footprint in over 35 countries in both established and emerging regions for natural resources, our marketing and industrial activities are supported by a global network of more than 50 offices.

Glencore's customers are industrial consumers, such as those in the automotive, steel, power generation, battery manufacturing and oil sectors. We also provide financing, logistics and other services to producers and consumers of commodities.

Glencore is proud to be a member of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the International Council on Mining and Metals. We are an active participant in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

We will support the global effort to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement through our efforts to decarbonise our own operational footprint. We believe that we should take a holistic approach and have considered our commitment through the lens of our global industrial emissions. Against a restated 2019 baseline, we are targeting to reduce our Scope 1, 2 and 3 industrial emissions by 15% by the end of 2026, 25% by the end of 2030, 50% by the end of 2035 and we have an ambition to achieve net zero industrial emissions by the end of 2050, subject to a supportive policy environment. For more information see our 2024-2026 Climate Action Transition Plan and the About our emissions calculation and reporting section in our 2023 Annual Report, available on our website at glencore.com/publications.

About Glencore Australia

In Australia, Glencore produces coal, copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, lead and silver from 23 mining operations. We also operate metals processing assets in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, including metals smelters, concentrators and refineries.

We are among Australia’s largest producers and marketers of natural resources, connecting Australian resources with industrial customers around the world. Through our diverse portfolio, we responsibly supply the resources that advance everyday life.

We employ 18,190 people in Australia and in 2022 contributed nearly $20 billion to the regional, state and national economies. This included spend of $10.4 billion with 7,370 businesses across the country, as well as $7.5 billion in government tax and royalty payments.

We are committed to providing a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace for our people, to respecting the environment, to engaging openly and constructively with the Traditional Owners on whose lands we operate and to bringing value to local communities.

Learn more about Glencore Australia.

About McArthur River Mine

McArthur River Mine is located in the Northern Territory approximately 970 kilometres south-east from Darwin and 60 kilometres south-west of its closest township, Borroloola. MRM mines one of the world’s largest zinc and lead deposits.

MRM provides direct employment to about 1,250 people, including contractors. In 2022, we contributed $611 million to the local, Territory and national economies through our payment of wages, spend on goods and services from 980 suppliers – much of which we sourced in the Territory – taxes and community investment projects.

Visit MRM's website for more information.