Mine workers were withdrawn on Saturday, July 12, after monitoring detected the symptoms of spontaneous combustion occurring in an inaccessible part of the mine.

South Island operations general manager Simon Doig said nightshift was brought out of the mine at about 8.30pm.

“This is a standard precaution to ensure the safety of our staff and contractors.  In the Greymouth coalfield, spontaneous combustion is a relatively common hazard and we have standard procedures which come into play in these situations,” he said at the time.

Doig said since Monday, July 14, remote monitoring had shown steady improvement following the restriction of air to the section. 

“We have been out of operation for slightly longer than we forecast but our primary concern has been to ensure that the incident is managed safely.  The Department of Labour’s Mines Inspectorate has been kept informed throughout,” he said.

Yesterday a Solid Energy spokesperson told International Longwall News the mine would resume production within a week.