Production at a north-west Queensland zinc mine has been forced to stop, and hundreds of underground workers evacuated, as a battle to bring a nearby grassfire under control enters its third day.
Mining giant Glencore, which operates George Fisher zinc mine 20 kilometres outside Mount Isa, confirmed staff were removed from the site due to concerns around smoke inhalation.
The fire has burnt through nearly 3,500 hectares and two firefighting crews have been flown in from Townsville to assist with fatigue due to hot weather.
Glencore said the fire did not post an immediate threat to people or infrastructure, but there was a risk smoke could infiltrate the mine, compromising working conditions.
"In line with our emergency procedures we have taken precautionary steps to evacuate employees from George Fisher Mine due to potential for smoke ingress into the underground mine," the company said in a statement.
"[The Queensland Fire and Emergency Service] is on site actively working to manage the fire to ensure that people and infrastructure is protected.
"Our key priority is to protect the health and safety of our employees and community."
QFES said the fire was within containment lines.
Authorities unable to contain fire
A QFES spokesperson said the blaze began on Sunday, December 11, after a grassfire broke out on the haul road between George Fisher Mine and Mount Isa Mines.
Officials said on Monday the blaze was more than 4km long and 1km wide.
Authorities have been battling the fire for three days in sweltering heat as temperatures climbed over 40 degrees Celsius.
The hot and windy conditions have prevented QFES from containing the fire.
QFES Inspector Bruce Evernden said despite working on establishing containment lines, the weather continued to be challenging.
"It's mainly the heat and the changeability of the wind," he said.
"Once we seem to get a beat on which way it's blowing, the wind then tends to change direction. So the situation keeps being incredibly fluid.
"The fire will eventually burn itself out."
