Ann: Laverton Operations Update , page-2

Brightstar crushing plant unhygienic: DMP
Lauren Barrett
Wednesday, 13 June 2012

THE Department of Mines and Petroleum has confirmed the reason behind the move to suspend operations at Stone Resources Australia’s Brightstar mine in Western Australia.

Yesterday, Stone Resources informed the Australian share market that the department had issued it with a prohibition notice after undertaking a regular inspection of the mine.

The company said the shutdown was needed to “rectify some problems, particularly in the crusher area that were not reported previously by the Department of Mines and Petroleum”.

The DMP told MiningNews.net in a statement today it inspected the plant on June 6 and had identified issues at the crushing plant.

“Unsafe and unhygienic conditions were identified at the mines crushing plant facility,” DMP said.

In light of this, Stone was immediately ordered to suspend operations at the plant.

DMP regional inspector of mines Trevor Jones said shutdowns were simply part of the protocol.

“We always work with operators and their workers, however, in some circumstances we have no choice but to suspend operations where an imminent risk to worker health and safety is identified,” Jones said.

Stone Resources is currently investigating alternative short-term crushing options to minimise downtime.

The next step for Stone Resources will be to notify the department when remedial work has been undertaken which will allow the DMP to re-inspect the facility.

The re-inspection will assess whether conditions at the plant have improved and if operations can resume.