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Ravensthorpe nickel mine fined for near-fatal acid accident
Monday, 2 Jan 2017 19:00:26 | Jarrod Lucas
The mine was closed for 49 days after the near-fatal accident. (Lateline Business)
The Canadian owners of the Ravensthorpe nickel mine in WA's south have been fined $40,000 after a near-fatal accident two years ago.
The Australian subsidiary of Toronto-based First Quantum Minerals entered an early guilty plea after being charged with failing to provide a safe working environment when an acid tank ruptured in December 2014.
A wave of approximately two million litres of sulphuric acid slurry initially trapped three workers in a nearby control room before they escaped without injury.
The spill destroyed infrastructure, including critical electrical equipment which cut the power supply to the entire site, 540 kilometres south-east of Perth.
The tank which ruptured was one of a number of tanks used in the nickel extraction process.
The mine was closed for 49 days after the accident, and the mine's atmospheric leach circuit did not start recommissioning until July 2015.
Department of Mines and Petroleum safety director Andrew Chaplyn said the company was aware of the need for regular tank inspections and the risks if repairs were not completed.
"Its failure to carry out an effective maintenance program led to the catastrophic failure of this tank," Mr Chaplyn said.
"The event had the potential to seriously injure or kill workers in the vicinity of the tank and was entirely preventable."
The Ravensthorpe nickel operations opened in late 2008 after BHP Billiton spent $US3 billion building and commissioning the facility.
The global financial crisis forced the mine's closure only months later and Ravensthorpe was bought by First Quantum for $US340 million in 2010.
First Quantum, which employs about 270 people at Ravensthorpe, has been contacted for comment.
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