WA
ATER
BACK
KGROUND
This fact
f
sheet is d
designed to pro
ovide the loca
al community w
with
inform
mation about h
how the Werris Creek Coal Mine manage
es
waterr as part of mining operation
ns.
Unde
er our current a
approvals (Pro
oject Approval 10_0059 and
d
Envirronmental Protection Licencce 12290) we are not approvved
to dis
scharge water off the mine site.
s
GROUNDWATER AQUIFERS NEAR
N
WERRIS CREEK CO
OAL
We
erris Creekk
Coal Mine
Groundwater aquiffers near the mine
m
are aligned with the
geolo
ogy of the area
a; with aquiferrs located in th
he Coal Measu
ures,
Werrie Basalt and Quipolly Cree
ek Alluvium. We
W are only min
ning
the co
oal that is foun
nd in the Coall Measures strrata located 2kkm
south
h of Werris Cre
eek town and 2km north of Quipolly Cree
ek.
TREN
NDS IN GROU
UNDWATER MONITORING
M
G
Long term monitoriing of both the
e Quipolly Cre
eek Alluvium a
and
Werrie Basalt aquiffers shows tha
at the water le
evels in the tw
wo
aquife
ers are depen
ndent upon the
e amount of ra
ainfall that fallss over
the aquifers. Monittoring shows that after a rain
nfall event, wa
ater
s rise and in th
he dry periodss the water lev
vels in the aqu
uifers
levels
fall (a
as indicated be
elow).
Arrea
4kkm2
Since
e the peak in 2
2012, groundw
water levels ha
ave declined b
by
appro
oximately 4m in a 4km2 area
a south of the mine and norrth of
Quipo
olly Creek (as indicated righ
ht). That is equ
uivalent to 4,8
800
mega
alitres (ML ie. million litres
s) that has leftt the local
groun
ndwater systems along Quip
polly Creek an
nd Werrie Bassalt
aquife
ers as a resultt of low rainfall recharge.
Geolo
ogy of the W
Werris Creek area
MINE WATER STORAGES
S
The mine has
s five dams on
nsite
with a combin
ned capacity of
o
755ML. We are
a currently
permitted by a water licensse
(WAL 32224)) to extract 211ML
of groundwatter per year fro
om
the minesite; however onlyy
ear has actually
100ML per ye
been intercep
pted in pit.
We do not us
se or even havve
enough stora
age onsite to
capture all off the 4,800ML of
groundwater that has been
n lost
from those aq
quifers since 2012.
2
Relation
nship Betwe
een Rainfall and Change
es in Groun
ndwater Leve
el
Water Fact Shee
et
Page 1 of 2
Werris Creek Coall
W
14
435 Werris Creek Road
PO
O Box 125, Werris
s Creek NSW 23441
Office: 02 6763 600
00; Telephone Co mplaints: 02 6768
8 7001
WATE
W ER
SOURCES OF WA
ATER AT WER
RRIS CREEK COAL
WAT
TER USE AT WERRIS
W
CRE
EEK COAL
Rainfall runoff contributes the majority
m
of wate
er that collectss in
the open
o
cut void. The main sou
urce of the exc
cess water in o
our
onsitte dams was the high rainfa
all in 2011 and 2012. Since 2
2013
rainfa
all has been b
below average
e (Quirindi ann
nual average
rainfa
all is 681mm) and less runo
off has been ca
aptured in pit.
The main
m
use of water at the minne is dust sup
ppression on haul
h
roads
s, within the crushing plant aand at the traiin load out faccilities.
On average water carts use 3500ML of water per
p year on ha
aul
roads
s for dust supp
pression.
Year**
Y
200
09-2010
201
10-2011
201
11-2012
201
12-2013
201
13-2014
201
14-2015
Rainfall
605 mm
817 mm
794 mm
786 mm
498 mm
513 mm
Void Water from Run off*
726 ML
981 ML
952 ML
943 ML
597 ML
616 ML
We also
a
use waterr to manage pootential spontaneous combustion
areas
s within the pitt, in particularr the former un
nderground miine
workings. Water is used to cool tthe ground in those areas so
s
that it is safe to operate and minne the coal.
As we
w do not use a Coal Washeery to clean the
e coal after mining;
excess water has to
t be stored inn dams onsite which are now
w
near full capacity.
* Indicative based upon 2014 Surface Water Model but varies in spac
ce and time due to raain
intensity
y, duration and surface moisture content; ** Period 1st April to 31st March.
Waterr Cart unde
ertaking dust suppres
ssion at an Excavatorr Load Facee and Haull Road
ENTIAL AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION OF
O VOID WAT
TER
POTE
We have
h
installed Evaporators to
o help reduce the excess off water
stored in our onsite
e dams. The Evaporators
E
sp
pray water into
o the air
as a fine
able to be
f
mist incre
easing the surfface area of th
he water availa
evapo
orated. Excesss void water iss expected to continue untill 2018
when
n the coal mea
asure geology changes from
m mining down
nslope to
minin
ng upslope.
Follow
wing commen
nts from the loccal community
y about the po
ossibility of
using
g the excess w
water for agricu
ultural purposes instead of
evapo
oration, we ha
ave made an application
a
witth the Departm
ment of
Plann
ning and Envirronment and the
t Environme
ent Protection Authority
to allo
ow the transfe
er of water off the mine site for agricultura
al use. A
deterrmination on th
he application is likely to occur during 201
15.
Analy
ysis of the void
d water qualityy at the mine has
h determine
ed that it is
suitab
ble for both irrrigation and livvestock watering in accorda
ance with
the ANZECC
A
(2000
0) guidelines.
Water Fact Shee
et
Page 2 of 2
Evapora
ator in usee on a Void Water Dam
m
Werris Creek Coall
W
14
435 Werris Creek Road
PO
O Box 125, Werris
s Creek NSW 23441
Office: 02 6763 600
00; Telephone Co mplaints: 02 6768
8 7001