30 October 2023

Over 1000 people turn out for Werris Creek Coal Mine Community Open Day

Well over 1000 people turned out to Quirindi Showground over the weekend for an exciting day of family fun, as part of the Werris Creek Coal Mine Community Open Day.

As Whitehaven prepares to transition its Werris Creek operations to the rehabilitation phase, the community open day event saw people from across the Liverpool Plains attend, including residents, local businesses, vendors, suppliers and Whitehaven employees.

Whitehaven’s General Manager Community Engagement, Darren Swain said the event was a fantastic way to bring employees, their families and the local community together.

“For almost two decades Whitehaven Coal has been operating its Werris Creek site and over that time we’ve been welcomed into the community,” he said. “It was fantastic to see more than 1000 people come through the gates on Saturday and enjoy a great day of free family activities, including face painting, jumping castles, pony rides, and a petting zoo. Community members on the bus tours particularly enjoyed having the opportunity to plant a tree in the rehabilitation area”

The day also included displays from local emergency services, including the SES and Rural Fire Service, and provided an insight into Whitehaven’s mining processes, with plenty of machinery on display including a crane and grader, excavators and excavator bucket, and a shuttle car for transporting coal underground.

More than 40 Whitehaven staff attended the event, including members of the open cut operations, community, rehabilitation/environment, biodiversity, and recruitment teams, who were on hand to talk to the community about their work.

“The guided bus tours of the Werris Creek mine site were particularly popular, with more than 350 people getting a final behind-the-scenes look at how a working coal mine operates,” said Mr Swain.

Whitehaven is expected to conclude coal production at the Werris Creek site in the first quarter of 2024, with all employees being offered jobs at Whitehaven’s other operations as part of the transition.

Whitehaven will also continue the rehabilitation of the site, aiming to establish an open box gum woodland. So far more than 235-hectares have been rehabilitated.

We’d like to thank everyone, including members of the local community, employees and their families, suppliers and local businesses who came along to the Whitehaven Werris Creek Coal Mine Community Open Day.

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