Two men have received flash burns at BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal’s West Cliff coal mine in an incident involving an electrical transformer.
Both men were transported to hospital following the incident, an Illawarra Coal spokesperson told MINING DAILY.
One man has been released from hospital, while the other remains at Concord hospital for treatment.
Operations at the mine have resumed, the spokesperson said.
New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (DPI) spokesperson Jenny Ward told MINING DAILY that some media reports released following the incident were alarmist.
One report said that an underground explosion had occurred at the mine, when in fact the incident was not a blast, but a transformer arc, according to Ward.
The incident is said to have shut down booster fans which forced the mine to close for a period of about 25 hours.
The DPI is investigating this morning and a report on the incident will be released in the coming weeks.