Solid Energy begins Stockton Mine extension

22 April 2009
Solid Energy begins development of Stockton Mine Cypress extension

Cypress Factsheet With Pictures (pdf)

Solid Energy is about to start preliminary works developing the Cypress extension of Stockton Opencast Mine in Buller.

The new $60 million mining development will involve construction of two new mining pits and associated infrastructure, extending Stockton Mine’s operational area to the east into the Upper Waimangaroa Mining Permit area. The Cypress pits will contribute approximately 5 million tonnes of high-quality coal to Stockton’s production over about 10 years. At present, Solid Energy expects to begin the large-scale development work in 2010 with the aim of taking first coal from the northern Cypress pit in late 2011.

Solid Energy Chief Executive Officer, Dr Don Elder, says the company now needs to move on with the 30-month development programme so that coal from the Cypress extension is available to blend with other coals from the Stockton Plateau to ensure continuity of supply to meet customer demand. This is critical for the ongoing life of Stockton Mine over the next 20 years.

A substantial environmental monitoring and data collection programme, to provide baseline information about a range of site environmental conditions, is due to begin within the next three months. This work, which includes mapping animal populations, predator and weed control, water quality and climate monitoring and biodiversity work, is required to meet the extensive conditions of the resource consenting for the development. Work will soon begin to upgrade and extend an existing four-wheel-drive track to allow easier access to the site by light vehicles. An extensive resource drilling programme, begun in the area this summer, will run for a year.

Solid Energy holds all necessary resource consents for the proposed development and operation of the Cypress extension and the appropriate land access arrangements and authorities to enter from the Crown.

Exclusion zone: With the start of these works imminent, Solid Energy now considers it essential to close part of the land to the public for their own safety and for workplace health and safety purposes. A public exclusion zone has been designated covering about 480 hectares (16%) of the 2,932 hectare Upper Waimangaroa Mining Permit area.

Campsite removed: The public exclusion zone covers a campsite set up three years ago by supporters of the Save Happy Valley Coalition (SHVC). Solid Energy contractors with the assistance of the Police have today dismantled the campsite which was not occupied. All the material, equipment and campsite contents have been removed by helicopter to Stockton Mine where it is being placed in containers for delivery to the Westport Police Station for collection by SHVC. Solid Energy has today contacted members of SHVC to inform them of the public exclusion zone and the campsite clearance.

The public exclusion zone is being advertised locally and clearly marked with signage on the boundary and warnings erected on the track from Burnetts Face in the south, the route into the area used by SHVC supporters. Solid Energy is upgrading and extending the track along the western boundary of the exclusion zone in the south so that interested parties can view the development. Other visitors will be able to see the area on tours of Stockton Mine, run by Westport’s Outwest Tours.

Solid Energy Chief Executive Officer, Dr Don Elder, believes the public will respect the exclusion area. “With the start of works we have an obligation to ensure public safety and under health and safety legislation to ensure the safety of people working on the site and we also need to restrict access so that we can carry out the baseline environmental monitoring programme. Unauthorised people found within the public exclusion zone will be trespassed. Should they remain within it or return later, they face Police arrest and prosecution,” he says.

Environmental conditions: At Stockton and its other mining operations, Solid Energy has gained a great deal of experience and expertise in water quality and wildlife management, mine rehabilitation and pest control. These skills will be applied to the development, operation and rehabilitation of the Cypress extension to meet the company’s own standards and the comprehensive set of resource consent conditions.

“The conditions and expectations for Cypress environmental management and rehabilitation are challenging, but we have proven techniques and process for this and we are confident we can meet them,” Dr Elder says.

As well as minimising the operation’s impact on native flora and fauna, an intensive and ongoing predator control programme will cover a total of 3,000 hectares of surrounding native bush and scrub areas where this has not previously been undertaken. Introduced animal pests are a major threat to New Zealand's special native species, ecosystems and conservation lands.

The Cypress area is likely to include part of the territories of a small number, approximately six, Roroa (Great Spotted Kiwi). In the lead up to the development, any kiwi found in the area will be fitted with transponders and tracked to better determine their territories. If necessary they will be caught and moved before mining begins and any chicks or eggs transferred to an existing hatchery/nursery for rearing and later resettlement.

The area is also part of the known range of the Powelliphanta “patrickensis” native land snail, a different species to the Powelliphanta “Augustus” snail at the centre of an extensive search-and-relocate programme on Stockton’s western boundary which began in June 2006. While classified as nationally endangered, the “patrickensis” snail is not considered to be at as much risk as its “Augustus” relative. Resource consents require Solid Energy to maintain a population of at least 1,000 “patrickensis” land snails which the company plans to meet by establishing and maintaining predator control over a 2,000 hectare area from Burnett’s Face in the south up onto the Stockton Plateau and east to the Mt William range ridgeline. The additional 1,000 hectare predator control area, a mitigation for impact on Roroa, will be established in the Orikaka conservation estate, which runs to the north on the eastern side of the Mt William range.

Two groups of plants in the area are of particular conservation interest; an area of red tussock land and a group of bryophytes growing alongside and within the upper reaches of St Patrick Stream. Up to 25 hectares of red tussock land will be removed using specialist equipment and stored prior to mining. Once mining is sufficiently advanced and site rehabilitation underway, this material will be moved again to a final location on the restored land. Solid Energy has already proved this technique at Stockton. A bryophyte community (mosses and liverworts) beside and within the headwaters of St Patrick Stream in the north of the area will be protected by managing and maintaining the stream’s water quality. A herb field in the headwaters of the Cypress Steam (a tributary of the Waimangaroa River) that is similar to wetland within the mine footprint will be excluded from all mining activities.

Economic contribution: The Stockton plateau produces high-quality coking coal, most of which is exported to international steel makers. Coal is an essential ingredient in the production of steel, a man-made alloy of iron and carbon (which usually comes from coal). Stockton coal is particularly suited for steel making as it has a high energy content and is low in sulphur. Stockton Mine directly employs approximately 500 people and is regularly the workplace of up to another 200 consultants and short-term contractors. Many other local and national businesses derive substantial income from work relating to the mine.

Solid Energy believes that by developing new resources, Stockton is capable of producing at around current levels for another 20 years. As well as the Cypress development, the company is investing $100 million in a processing plant that will separate 10 million tonnes of valuable coal from waste material and is finalising plans to opencast mine the former Millerton Underground Mine inside the Stockton Coal Mining Licence area.

ENDS

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