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<\/p>\nA secretive facility more than a century old has been approved for expansion, to meet increased demand from Australia’s mining industry.<\/p>\n
The Bajool Explosives Reserve, one of four state government-owned reserves, has expanded by more than 600 hectares since 2022 and will soon begin increasing its output.<\/p>\n
“It’s quite an important reserve for not just Queensland, but for the rest of Australia as well,” said Rob White, Resources Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ) explosives director.<\/p>\n
“That’s why we call it the ‘Bajool in the Crown’.<\/p>\n
“It’s the gateway down to New South Wales and across to Western Australia as well.”<\/p>\n
The site, about 30 kilometres south of Rockhampton in Central Queensland, is used to store, manufacture and dispose of explosives mostly for the mining industry.<\/p>\n
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Rob White says the expansion is driven by increased demand. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
Mr White confirmed among the materials stored at the high-security centre, were tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which can be made into ammonium nitrate emulsion, to be sent to mines around the country.<\/p>\n
The exact amount of explosives and the security measures around them could not be confirmed, due to commercial in confidence and security concerns.<\/p>\n
The facility also provides space for items including seized illegal fireworks, out-of-date ammunition and flares, to be safely destroyed inside large incinerators.<\/p>\n
“It’s about safe and secure explosives [that are] heavily regulated and secure to the community,” Mr White said.<\/p>\n
With its proximity to the Rockhampton Port, also known as Port Alma, the country’s highest-volume licensed explosives port, precise operations inside the Bajool reserve have long been shrouded in secrecy.<\/p>\n
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Horses transporting wagons with explosives to the Bajool Explosives Reserve in 1956. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
History and expansion plans<\/p>\n
In addition to the Bajool site, the government has explosives reserves at White Rock near Cairns, Helidon near Brisbane and Brookhill near Townsville.<\/p>\n
Bajool was originally gazetted for explosives purposes in the late 1800s and the site’s first magazine, a structure designed to safely store or detonate explosives, was built in 1913.<\/p>\n
In its infancy it was primarily used for the gold mine in Mount Morgan, about 60km away, and coal mine Blair Athol, more than 400km from the facility.<\/p>\n
“Bajool has played an important part moving forward in history for the mining industry,” Mr White said.<\/p>\n
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Explosives being transported between Bajool and Port Alma in the 1980s. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
In 2022 the high-security site grew from 300 hectares to more than 900, using land to the north of the site to build more infrastructure.<\/p>\n
As well as growing its physical size, in recent months it also received state government approval to increase operations.<\/p>\n
It is the first major expansion of the reserve since it was established.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr White said the need for expansion was driven by increasing demand from the mining industry.<\/p>\n
“We realised a number of years ago that we were running at capacity,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We can now bring industry in very shortly to then [see] at least a prospective site for manufacture and storage of ammonia nitrate.”<\/p>\n
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An example of an explosives magazine in 1974 at Bajool. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
CQ University resources engineering lecturer Xiaohan Yang agreed demand for more mining explosives was increasing.<\/p>\n
“The upgrade [seems to be] not just for immediate demand, for also for future planning,” Dr Yang said.<\/p>\n
“Because of the need for the critical minerals and also the strategy for critical minerals from the Queensland government,” he said.<\/p>\n
Initial work at the expanded section will start early next year and it is expected to be fully operational by 2030.<\/p>\n
With roughly 120 employees on site usually, the reserve’s upgrade was expected to create an extra 50 to 70 direct jobs once operational, Mr White said.<\/p>\n
“Then it could be anything up to 120 or more indirect jobs within the logistics chain itself, [such as] truck drivers,” he said.<\/p>\n