Cyclone Kirrily has struck parts of New South Wales with rains lashing mine sites and impacting operations.
Aurelia Minerals saw torrential rain at its Hera and Federation sites approximately 100km southeast of Cobar in central-west NSW.
Water has entered the mine at the Federation zinc, lead, and gold deposit and is being redirected to underground sumps, but pumping water out may be slowed by limited capacity in surface water storage facilities.
Aurelia recorded 63mm of rain at Hera on Monday, with 78mm recorded in Nymagee where the site is located.
The miner saw similar rain events in January but said the impacts of the latest downpour are yet to be fully investigated.
“While we were confident the impact of the earlier rain events on our project schedule could be absorbed, this latest rain event has the potential to impact our development progress while water is being removed,” the company said.
Site inspections confirmed the water level in the Hera tailings storage facility has risen but a discharge event is unlikely if rains ease next week as predicted.
A water cannon is currently operating at Hera’s tailings facility to speed up evaporation, with a further three water cannons ordered in response to January downpours to be installed in the coming weeks.
Aurelia is not the only operator to be impacted by the cyclone, with heavy rainfall damaging a portion of the Townsville rail network in Queensland.
Centrex’s Ardmore phosphate mine approximately 120km south of Mount Isa has been cut off with thousands of tonnes of product waiting to be shipped.
Ardmore is continuing to operate as normal with all mining, processing and drying operations continuing with only minor interruptions.
Aurizon Holdings, who operates the track, expects the rail network to be out of action for up to two weeks.
In the meantime, the companies will consider road transport alternatives until the rail network is back on track.
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