The Pike River Mine is a
coal mine
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
formerly operated by
Pike River Coal
Pike River Coal Ltd was a mining company listed on the NZX, New Zealand and Australian Securities Exchange, Australian stock exchanges. Its primary operation was the Pike River Mine, the site of a Pike River Mine disaster, mining disaster with ...
north-northeast of
Greymouth
Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...
in the
West Coast Region
The West Coast ( mi, Te Tai Poutini, lit=The Coast of Poutini, the Taniwha) is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island that is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. ...
of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
's South Island. It is the site of the
Pike River Mine disaster
The Pike River Mine disaster was a coal mining accident that began on 19 November 2010 in the Pike River Mine, northeast of Greymouth, in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island following a methane explosion at approximately 3:44 pm ...
that occurred on 19 November 2010, leading to the deaths of 29 men whose bodies have not been recovered. The mine and assets are currently owned by the
Pike River Recovery Agency, a stand-alone ministry of the
Government of New Zealand
, background_color = #012169
, image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg
, image_size=250px
, date_established =
, country = New Zealand
, leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
, appointed = Governor-General
, main_organ =
, ...
, following the liquidation of
Solid Energy
Solid Energy was the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government.
The company was formed from the former government department State Coal Mines. It was then established as a state owne ...
in 2018.
It was to begin production in early 2008, and was initially expected to produce around one million
tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s of coal per year for around 20 years,
[Digging deep around New Zealand, ''LG - New Zealand Local Government'', Volume 44 No 5, May 2008, Page 18] making the mine the second-largest coal export mine in the country, as well as the largest underground coal mine of the country. The estimate for production was reduced to between 320,000 and 360,000 tonnes for 2011. The coal of the mine is described as "New Zealand's largest known deposit of high fluidity and quality hard coking coal" (a type of coal in high demand for
iron smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ch ...
),
Coal Mine Approved for New Zealand National Park
' - 'Mines & Communities' website. Environmental News Service (ENS), Tuesday 16 March 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2007. and was expected to earn around NZ$170 million in export income annually.
[How the West was won: Pike River on track, ''New Zealand Construction News'', Volume 2, Issues 3, July 2007]
Various setbacks occurred during late 2007 and early 2008 delaying the start of coal production. While mine operators were originally confident that production would still start in 2008 (having reached within of the coal seam in early 2008),
in mid-2009 the mine was still not producing at expected levels, with the target of the first 60,000 tons of coal to be shipped having slipped to early 2010. The mine operators noted that technical difficulties with several mining machines were to blame for the delays, which also forced the company to ask for an extension from its financiers.
In February 2010, the first export shipment of 20,000 tons of coal was delivered to India for use in steel production.
An
explosion on Friday 19 November 2010 trapped 29 workers inside the mine. Rescuers delayed entering the mine, due to the risk of another explosion. On 24 November, a second explosion occurred and it was subsequently presumed that the workers could not have survived. A third explosion occurred at 3:39 pm 26 November; it appeared to be smaller than the first two. A fourth explosion occurred on 28 November at 1:55 pm.
Initial recovery efforts were abandoned after rescue robots were lost and after insolvency the Pike River Recovery Agency was formed and reentered the mine in May 2019. As of July 2020 the recovery team had penetrated over 1.4 km into the mine and recovered four original rescue robots previously lost.
On 17 February 2021, the Pike River Recovery Agency reported that it had reached a point 2.2 up the mine access tunnel to the site of a rockfall. This was the furthest point into the mine that the agency planned to go, and the work to this point had cost approximately $50 million. On 23 March 2021, the minister responsible for Pike River Re-entry, Andrew Little, stated that it was too hard and too expensive to go any further into the mine.
Approvals history
The mine has a development and
consenting history going back to the 1970s, with the first geologists and surveyors having explored the area in the 1940s. The mine is located approximately halfway between Greymouth and
Reefton
Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63  ...
, close to the Pike Stream, a tributary of the
Big River in a region that already has a long history of coal- and gold-mining activity. It is located on
Crown land
Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...
administered by the
Department of Conservation
An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...
, and adjacent to the
Paparoa National Park
Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
The park was established in 1987 and encompasses 430 km2 (166 sq mi). The park ranges from on or near the coastline to the peaks of the Paparoa Range. A separ ...
.
Because of the status of the land, Pike River Coal Ltd had to obtain the Minister of Conservation's agreement to an access arrangement for mining under Section 61(2) of the Crown Minerals Act 2001.
On 12 March 2004, Minister of Conservation
Chris Carter approved the access arrangement for Pike River Coal Ltd. The arrangement included four -wide emergency escape shafts within the boundaries of Paparoa National Park and a requirement for Pike River Coal Ltd to spend NZ$70,000 annually on conservation projects. Carter stated that the "safeguards and compensation" outweighed the inconsistencies with objectives of the
Conservation Act 1987
The Conservation Act 1987 is New Zealand's principal act concerning the conservation of indigenous biodiversity. The Act established the Department of Conservation (who administer the Act) and Fish and Game, and complements the National Parks ...
and the relevant management plans.
Due to the location, the conditions of the access arrangement included special considerations for the environment, such as minimising tree felling and a requirement to reinstate all above-ground areas after the cessation of mining.
Opponents of the mine strongly criticised the approval of the access agreement, noting that the coal is not intended for domestic use but simply a commercial operation, and thus should not have been allowed to go forward in a sensitive location.
Forest & Bird
Forest & Bird ( mi, Te Reo o te Taiao), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation of New Zealand's indigenous f ...
also criticised the fact that the Minister of Conservation chose to ignore the report from the Department of Conservation stating that the mine would be damaging to the local environment.
Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand
Greenpeace Aotearoa (GPAo) is one of New Zealand's largest environmental organisations, and is a national office of the global environmental organisation Greenpeace.
History
Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand was founded in 1974, two years after ...
also criticised the project for furthering the use of
fossil fuel
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...
s instead of developing sustainable alternatives.
Mine operation
In October 2008, coal production started and in November 2008,
Gerry Brownlee
Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 4 February 1956) is a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand National Party. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1996, was Leader of the House, Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery and Minister of ...
, the Minister of Energy and Resources and Minister for Economic Development, formally opened the mine. However, production was slow initially, and took until 2009/2010 to reach significant levels.
The coal is mined underground, at above sea level, quarrying coal from the Brunner coal seam