Coal mine of the year

Hail Creek Mine was awarded the prestigious Coal Mine of the Year award at the 2008 Mining Prospect Awards in Sydney recently.

Recognised for its achievements in safety, community relations and employee programmes, Hail Creek Mine took out the award which highlights best practice and innovation in the coal mining industry.

General manager operations Andrew Woodley said he was honoured to accept the award on behalf of all of the employees, contractors and surrounding community.

"This year Hail Creek Mine celebrates five years of operations, so to win this prestigious award considering we are still a young mine is a fantastic achievement for us," Andrew said.

"We have gone from strength to strength this year, and our successes are due to the unwavering dedication and commitment of our workforce, as well as the strong support that we receive from our local community," Andrew said.

This year the mine was also awarded the Queensland Road Safety award for its Road Safe September Programme and received the Corporate Citizen's Award from the former Nebo Shire in recognition of the its community partnership programmes.

Pictured: Hail Creek Mine general manager operations Andrew Woodley is presented with the Coal Mine of Year Award by Pacific Hoists New South Wales sales manager Peter Ryan.