MARKETS

Pike River wins trucking consent

PIKE River Coal will be able to transport its full coal production target of 1.3 million tonnes per annum after an interim decision this week by New Zealand’s Environment Court gave the prospective coal producer a shorter trucking route.

Angie Tomlinson
Pike River wins trucking consent

Pike River was granted resource consent to truck coal from the Pike mine via the preferred southern route to the port of Greymouth.

This route is 50km shorter for a return trip than the northern route through Ikamatua.

The decision enables PRCL to transport the full consented coal production of 1.3Mtpa on a six day per week basis for 16 hours per day.

Friday last week marked one year since the access agreement was granted by the Department of Conservation allowing construction to commence on the Pike River mine development.

In that time 11.5km of new road has been constructed and other supporting infrastructure has been substantially progressed.

The access tunnel to the mine has advanced 172m having experienced variable ground conditions.

It is forecast to achieve total length of 2300m when it will access the high-grade hard coking coal of the Brunner seam, with first coal from the mine still forecast for the December quarter 2007.

Two major electrical transformers have now been installed onsite and a large portion of the electrical poles and cables installed up the valley to the minesite.

Several contracts for underground vehicles have been signed in recent weeks as well as tenders closing for the mine's main ventilation fans.

With long lead time mining equipment now on order, Pike River is finalising the contract for site buildings, with construction to commence in the new year.

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Automation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations using autonomous solutions in every region and sector, including analysis of the factors driving investment decisions

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2023 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of current exploration rates, trending exploration technologies, a ranking of top drill intercepts and a catalogue of 2022 Initial Resource Estimates and recent discovery successes.