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Pike River Coal project's tunneling rate rises
27 March 2007 - The Pike River Coal Ltd's project access tunnel towards the Brunner coal seam is now making faster progress, parent company New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd says in its half year report to December 31, 2006.
The Pike River project (MP 41453) on the West Coast of the South Island is making strong progress on a number of fronts, having faced and overcome some challenges during the period, NZOG says.
Construction activities at the mine site, situated 46 km north-east of Greymouth, are progressing well with tunnel development 450 m towards its 2300 metres end point at the Brunner coal seam.
Progress since 8 January 2007 of 275 m reflected improving rates of advance since the tunnel commenced in late September 2006. Initial projections of the rock type, made from surface mapping, have been revised and reforecast based on actual conditions encountered in the tunnel. Whilst there has been a need for increased roof support, this has been largely offset by faster than expected rates of advance in the poorer rock classes, NZOG says.
To date, approximately $55 million has been spent on construction activities at the mine and equipment purchases.
Major activities on site include 11.5 km of road from the public road end to the tunnel entrance, construction of seven bridges, clearance of 16 ha of land for installation of the mine's bathhouse, substation, coal preparation plant and stockpile areas and terracing of the amenities area located 1.2 km down the valley from the tunnel entrance.
NZOG says work has commenced on office and workshop buildings and installation of the 15 km of power supply infrastructure to the mine entrance was making good progress.
Contracts are in place for the purchase of two continuous miners and one roadheader which will develop the underground roadways in the coal seam as well as other mining and transport equipment required for the mine. The final shipment of slurry pipeline from Japan is due in March 2007 which will see all 10.5 km of pipe stored in Greymouth awaiting installation.
Pike River Coal received resource consent in December 2006 (in an interim decision) to use the cheaper and more direct southern route for coal transport from the mine to the Greymouth port.
The West Coast Coal Company Ltd, formed to transport Pike's coal from mine site to export port at Taranaki, has completed detailed ship design for the inter-port special purpose vessels, and plans to upgrade both the ports of Greymouth and Taranaki are moving ahead.
Dredging of Port Taranaki to 12.5 metres draft to allow Panamax-sized vessels of up to 65,000 tonnes to service the port is due to be completed in the June 2007 quarter.
The NZOG report says coal production will ramp up during the 2008 calendar year as underground roadways are developed and the mine's infrastructure installed, with calendar year ended December 2009 seeing the mine’s production at 1.1 million tonnes.
Benchmark hard coking coal prices for 2007 were settled by large Australian producer BMA at US$96 per tonne, which compares favourably to Pike River Coal’s earlier pricing expectations.
NZOG says two highly qualified independent directors have been appointed to the board of Pike River Coal. They are John Dow, who led gold miner Newmont Australia as managing director until his retirement in 2005, and is now a mining industry consultant based in Nelson. The other new director is Stuart Nattrass, a director of Fonterra Co-operative Group and a former banker.
A prospectus for the public offer of Pike River Coal securities was lodged with the Companies Office and the New Zealand and Australian Stock Exchanges for review in March 2007, ahead of formal registration. NZOG shareholders will receive entitlements to a significant proportion of the float at a ratio of 1 PRCL share for every 8 NZOG shares held at the relevant date.
Source: NZOG half year report.
Construction activities at the mine site, situated 46 km north-east of Greymouth, are progressing well with tunnel development 450 m towards its 2300 metres end point at the Brunner coal seam.
Progress since 8 January 2007 of 275 m reflected improving rates of advance since the tunnel commenced in late September 2006. Initial projections of the rock type, made from surface mapping, have been revised and reforecast based on actual conditions encountered in the tunnel. Whilst there has been a need for increased roof support, this has been largely offset by faster than expected rates of advance in the poorer rock classes, NZOG says.
To date, approximately $55 million has been spent on construction activities at the mine and equipment purchases.
Major activities on site include 11.5 km of road from the public road end to the tunnel entrance, construction of seven bridges, clearance of 16 ha of land for installation of the mine's bathhouse, substation, coal preparation plant and stockpile areas and terracing of the amenities area located 1.2 km down the valley from the tunnel entrance.
NZOG says work has commenced on office and workshop buildings and installation of the 15 km of power supply infrastructure to the mine entrance was making good progress.
Contracts are in place for the purchase of two continuous miners and one roadheader which will develop the underground roadways in the coal seam as well as other mining and transport equipment required for the mine. The final shipment of slurry pipeline from Japan is due in March 2007 which will see all 10.5 km of pipe stored in Greymouth awaiting installation.
Pike River Coal received resource consent in December 2006 (in an interim decision) to use the cheaper and more direct southern route for coal transport from the mine to the Greymouth port.
The West Coast Coal Company Ltd, formed to transport Pike's coal from mine site to export port at Taranaki, has completed detailed ship design for the inter-port special purpose vessels, and plans to upgrade both the ports of Greymouth and Taranaki are moving ahead.
Dredging of Port Taranaki to 12.5 metres draft to allow Panamax-sized vessels of up to 65,000 tonnes to service the port is due to be completed in the June 2007 quarter.
The NZOG report says coal production will ramp up during the 2008 calendar year as underground roadways are developed and the mine's infrastructure installed, with calendar year ended December 2009 seeing the mine’s production at 1.1 million tonnes.
Benchmark hard coking coal prices for 2007 were settled by large Australian producer BMA at US$96 per tonne, which compares favourably to Pike River Coal’s earlier pricing expectations.
NZOG says two highly qualified independent directors have been appointed to the board of Pike River Coal. They are John Dow, who led gold miner Newmont Australia as managing director until his retirement in 2005, and is now a mining industry consultant based in Nelson. The other new director is Stuart Nattrass, a director of Fonterra Co-operative Group and a former banker.
A prospectus for the public offer of Pike River Coal securities was lodged with the Companies Office and the New Zealand and Australian Stock Exchanges for review in March 2007, ahead of formal registration. NZOG shareholders will receive entitlements to a significant proportion of the float at a ratio of 1 PRCL share for every 8 NZOG shares held at the relevant date.
Source: NZOG half year report.
