Major hazard facilities

Our Mount Isa Mines operations and Townsville Copper Refinery are classified as Major Hazard Facilities (MHFs).

This categorisation is made under the Queensland Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 and Work Health and Safety Act 2011. MHFs can be mines, refineries, chemical plants and fuel or chemical storage sites where large quantities of potentially hazardous materials are stored, handled or processed.

Mineral separation

Across our fully integrated Glencore Queensland Metals value chain, we mine, process and refine minerals that play important roles in modern life.

The processes of recovering metals involves using chemicals called reagents to help separate the valuable mineral content from waste rock.

Some reagents are hazardous materials that fall under the National Standard for control of Major Hazard Facilities. The objective of this standard is to prevent and minimise the effects of any major incidents associated with hazardous materials.

Magazines are a heavily regulated facilities for the secure storage of explosives and related products used for mining activities.

Copper anodes are submerged in an acidic copper sulphate solution, between stainless steel mother plates in the refinery tankhouse.

Effective risk management

As a responsible operator, we are vigilant about identifying and managing risks and responsibly assess, implement and review control measures to minimise chances of harm to our people and communities.

We invest heavily in selecting, training and developing all our people to ensure they have the skills to identify hazards and take appropriate action to control these in their workplaces.

We work closely with local stakeholders and emergency services to ensure the safest, most effective response should an incident occur.

Environment

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Local communities

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