$1 million for new mining training facility on the Coast

Media release – 13 December 2011

$1 million for new mining training facility on the Coast

Development West Coast is to donate $1 million to the Mines Rescue Trust to build a multi-purpose training facility at its Rapahoe base near Greymouth. In the wake of the Pike River Mine tragedy, in which 29 men lost their lives, Development West Coast (DWC) allocated funding of $1 million to the Pike River Distribution Fund.

The Fund administers have decided to distribute the $1 million to the Mines Rescue Trust to establish a multi-purpose training facility that will assist the mining industry with their current and future training requirements. Fund chairman and DWC Trustee, Mark Lockington, says the Trust felt it was important to recognise the severity of the disaster and its impact on families, the community and the local economy.

“DWC believes the training facility will be a real and enduring benefit to the Coast.

This is a meaningful way we can assist the mining industry and the local economy,” he says.

“It was hoped the Pike River Distribution Fund could be used to stimulate and develop business activity on the West Coast, especially those supporting the mining industry. We saw this training facility as an ideal way to achieve those aims.” New Zealand Mines Rescue Service General Manager Trevor Watts says he is delighted DWC has decided to fund the new facility.

“The training centre will allow us to provide the industry with a state-of-the-art training facility while still maintaining our core capability as a rescue organisation. The more education and knowledge in the industry the more we can raise safety awareness with the ultimate aim of preventing incidents from occurring,” he says.

“The new facility will enable Mines Rescue to provide high quality training to the industry in both underground and surface extraction. Our goal is to provide a wider variety of industry training than we already do, from basic induction training to Certificates of Competency for those already in the industry. It is our intention to make the training facilities available to other trainers with specialist expertise in the extractive industries”.

Currently Mines Rescue operates a small training facility at Rapahoe including a small underground training tunnel. The new facility will be purpose built with the potential to include a virtual reality training theatre allowing miners to experience real life dangers in a controlled environment. This technology is used extensively in Australia and is an additional tool to enhance industry training.

ENDS

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