Former chief mines inspector backs calls for Pike mine re-entry investigation

Monday, 22 March 2021

Claims recovering vital evidence inside the Pike River mine is too difficult have been rejected by New Zealand's former chief mines inspector.

Tony Forster has resigned as technical advisor for the Pike River Recovery Agency's family reference group (FRG) because he says “no-one is listening”.

Some family members are calling on the Government to go further into the mine in light of what they say is new information about the extent of the roof fall, which was previously believed to be a “massive rockfall” blocking the 2.3km access tunnel from the mine workings.

Forster says the blockage is neither massive nor made of rock, and could be tunnelled through to get to the main ventilation fan roadway 15m from the top of the drift.

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The agency's mission was to complete a $50 million re-entry of the mine’s access tunnel, which it achieved last month. The Government is refusing to budge from its decision to stop at the end of the 2.3-kilometre access tunnel, or drift.

However, some Pike River families have added their support to calls from fathers Bernie Monk and Dean Dunbar for recovery of the main ventilation fan, which is considered a vital piece of evidence that may reveal the cause of the explosion that killed 29 men in 2010.

Pike River Re-entry Minister Andrew Little told Stuff on Friday the roof fall was still believed to under an area “known to be highly unstable”.

“The technical challenge is phenomenal,” he said.

Forster, who has worked for 45 years in the mining industry, including 30 years as a safety regulator, said he had seen no evidence to support Little’s comments.

Information from the agency's chief operating officer Dinghy Pattinson about what he saw of the roof fall was significant, he said, and changed his opinion about the feasibility of going into the mine workings.

There were two roof falls – the first of which was caused when borehole 50 was drilled in 2013. It was only 15m long, did not reach the roof and comprised entirely of coal, Forster said.

“The primary roof fall – the mis-named ‘massive rock-fall’ – appears to be neither ‘massive’ nor comprised of ‘rock’. The only material Dinghy could identify was coal, which is significant because the last thing to fall is what is left on top,” he said.

The fan could be accessed by installing steel arch supports and injecting the remaining roof-void with expanding cement grout. There increased risks, but they could be managed, Forster said.

The FRG had been told re-entry to the mine workings would cost up to $100m. Recovering the fan would cost a fraction that, Forster said.

He resigned from his unpaid position of technical advisor to the group – which is made up of three family members and two non-family members and represents the support of 27 families for re-entry to the drift.

“I have no problem with the Government telling the families it is too expensive and there is no more money. I have a problem with the families being told it is too difficult when it is not. They deserve the truth,” he said.

“What disturbs me is that despite promises made to families in 2012 that an expert panel would be put together to advise the Government on the feasibility of re-entry into the main mine workings, to my knowledge, that never occurred. So in the absence of that feasibility study, how can anyone say what it would cost?”

He said he had recovered bodies, and rescued trapped miners, from behind rockfalls up to 54m long in the United Kingdom.

Pattinson previously said it was technically possible to get past the roof fall from a mining perspective, but cost and funding would be obstacles.

FRG member Anna Osborne said the Government had promised to reassess all the information once the drift was recovered. She understood that was still going to happen.

Little has been approached for comment.