Transport Consortium to Ship Pike River Coal from Port Taranaki

A Pike River coal transport contract has been awarded to a consortium which will build two specialised small ships to service an export terminal at Port Taranaki.

Pike River Coal Company has awarded the West Coast Coal Company consortium (WCCC) a long-term contract for delivery and export of up to 1.3 million tonnes a year from its underground mine out of the river port of Greymouth on the South Island's west coast.

Pike River Coal said the NZ$80 million supply chain will be operated by the consortium made up of Port Taranaki, road transport operators TNL Group, the ship management arm of Wendell Group, and the Norwegian-based specialised bulk ship owner-operator Jebsens International.

Two other major contracts to construct a 2.2 km tunnel to access the Pike River coal deposit, and to build an 8.5 km access road to the mine portal, have also been announced.

Pike River Coal said that for the coal transport contract, the WCCC consortium will be responsible for all aspects of handling and freighting the coal from the mine stockpile areas to onboard the export vessels at Port Taranaki.

The coal will be shipped from the Port of Greymouth in two small coastal bulk ships, purpose built for the port's limited water depth, to Port Taranaki at New Plymouth, 450 km north on the west coast of the North Island. From there, the cargo will be shipped in Panamax size vessels, carrying up to 65,000 tonnes at a time, to export markets in Asia, India, South America, and Europe.

"This new transport route is a major innovation for New Zealand's coal export industry and opens up significant opportunities for expansion," Pike River Coal general manager Gordon Ward said.

Port Taranaki is currently dredging to deepen to 12.5m for all berths and has resource consents to dredge to 14 m, which would make it the deepest container port in New Zealand.

The two coastal bulk ships, to be built in China within 18 months, will each transport up to 12,000 tonnes. The ships will have significant manoeuverability under their own propulsion.

The Nelson-based TNL Group will be responsible to WCCC for trucking coal to the Port of Greymouth from Pike River Coal’s coal preparation plant, which will be fed by a 10.5 km downhill slurry pipeline from the mine mouth.

Mr Ward said that “First coal production is planned for the March 2007 quarter and first coal shipments will come some months later."

Greymouth Mayor Tony Kokshoorn said the news of Pike River commencement and this transport agreement will have huge spin-offs for the West Coast.

“The run-down Port of Greymouth will be revitalised with a major redevelopment and a new governance structure,” he said.

“There is still much to do but 150 full time jobs at the mine and hundreds of workers in the associated support industries will ensure that the West Coast economic growth rate remains amongst the highest in New Zealand”, Mayor Kokshoorn said.

Pike River Coal said the contract to build a 2.2 km tunnel to the mine face has been awarded to McConnell Dowell Constructors Ltd New Zealand, a major international construction company.

The engineer, procure and construct contract is for a 4.5 m high and 5.5 m wide tunnel which will be constructed in extremely hard rock using standard drill and blast techniques. Following each blast, the rock will be stockpiled on Pike River Coal-owned land. The tunnel is scheduled to intersect first coal in the March 2007 quarter.

McConnell Dowell, which began in New Zealand and is now part of South African owned company Aveng, recently completed a similar 1.2 km tunneling contract at a New South Wales coal mine.

Another engineer, procure and construct contract for the road and bridges up a valley to the mine entrance has been awarded to Ferguson Brothers Ltd, a local West Coast company with 20 years in roading and civil construction.

The Ferguson's contract is to build an 8.5 km long single lane road with passing bays from the coal processing plant to the mine portal. This road will carry mine workers and equipment to the underground mine. four and a half kilometers of the road will be an upgraded logging track completed by 4 km of newly constructed roadway. Six major bridges will be built.

Work began on the access road in December, following authorisation from the Department of Conservation.