Authorities to let Kaolin mine fire to burn outAuthorities say...

Authorities to let Kaolin mine fire to burn out

Authorities say it is not known what started a chemical blaze at the Kaolin mine site, about 80 kilometres north of Weipa in far-north Queensland.

A 20-tonne container filled with sodium hydrosulphite caught fire at about 8:30am AEST yesterday.

Mark Roach from Queensland Fire and Rescue says the fire will be allowed to burn itself out.

He says crews are trying to prevent chemicals from reaching the nearby Skardon River.

"The fire or the container itself is about 400 or 500 metres from the river, so it's a fairly safe distance," he said.

"The crews will be monitoring [it] so we don't expect it's going to get into the river or it's got any chance of getting into the river itself."

Larissa Cordner from the Wilderness Society says the fire is proof that mines should not be built near rivers.

"We're talking about what could be human error and you never can actually put a boundary on that," she said.

"So it's best that these activities are kept well away from high conservation value areas, specifically rivers that are still flowing or are wild and free."