Solid Energy to Commence $30 Million Ventilation Shaft

12 April 2011

Solid Energy to Commence $30 Million Ventilation Shaft Development at Huntly

Solid Energy has awarded a contract to engineering and construction company, McConnell Dowell Constructors (MacDow), for the excavation and construction of a new ventilation shaft to service the northern sector of the Huntly East Underground Mine in the Waikato.

“The ventilation shaft is the single largest capital item in the five year project to develop and extend East Mine we announced in 2009,” says Craig Smith, Solid Energy’s General Manager of Underground Operations. “The mine extension accesses reserves for on going coal supply to New Zealand Steel, increasing the Huntly East Mine’s current life by 15 years and the workforce from today’s 160 to around 230 people.”

The proposed 270 metre deep shaft is required to ventilate the expanded mine. Currently all surface infrastructure, including ventilation fans, is located on the eastern side of the Waikato River while the mine’s workings are progressing northwards on the western side of the river.

Construction of the ventilation shaft is the most significant phase of the development. Subsequent phases include installing two fans and associated foundations, installing pipework and electrical cables the length of the shaft and constructing a landscaped earth bund around the site. An access road to the site was completed as the first stage of the development.

Excavation and construction of the shaft, which includes intersection and connection with Huntly East Mine’s underground workings, is expected to take approximately eighteen months. Once completed, the concrete-lined shaft will be 4.3 metres in diameter.

ENDS

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