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Pike River coal mine access arrangement signed
1 November 2004 - A detailed access arrangement for the planned Pike River underground coking coal export mine north of Greymouth has been signed between the Pike River Coal Company Ltd and the Department of Conservation.
Announcing the agreement Wellington-based New Zealand Oil and Gas Ltd (NZOG), which owns 71% of Pike River Coal Limited, said the terms of access ensure that conservation values of the area are protected as fully as possible, while allowing the mine to proceed with proposed mine output of 1 to 1.2 million tonnes a year for an estimated 20 years.
Following the conditional approval given by the Minister of Conservation on 12 March 2004, extensive discussion and negotiation on the terms and conditions of the company’s access arrangement has taken place between the Department and Pike River Coal.
NZOG says in its September 2004 quarter report that Pike River Coal has made progress in converting letters of intent obtained from international steel mills into long term sales contracts. Coal samples were obtained during the quarter and are being provided to potential customers in South East Asia and Brazil.
Pike River coal is a hard coking coal and will benefit from increased coal prices. NZOG says industry observers expect contract coal prices next year to settle at around US$90 per tonne.
Development planning, including optimisation of coal extraction, construction of the access road to the mine portal and evaluation of the coal transport route continued during the quarter.
The current schedule is to have all infrastructure fully committed to by mid 2005 so that Pike River Coal can make a final investment decision.
