$8m plan to go further into Pike River mine to be reviewed

Wednesday, 12 May 2021

The Pike River Recovery Agency team has to tunnel through a Rocsil plug to get to the top of the drift. (Video first published February 2021).

The Government will review an $8 million plan to get more evidence from the Pike River mine.

A group representing 23 families previously asked the Government to fully assess the risks and costs of recovering the main ventilation fan, considered a vital piece of evidence that may reveal the cause of the explosion that killed 29 men in 2010.

When the Government refused to spend any more money on the mine, the families asked a group of mining experts from around the world to develop a feasibility study for the project.

The Pike River Independent Technical Advisory Group, led by former chief mines inspector Tony Forster, presented a concept plan to the Government on Tuesday.

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It said the recovery would cost $8m and take 12 weeks using standard mining techniques.

The Pike River Recovery Agency was tasked by the Government to complete a $50m re-entry of the mine’s access tunnel, or drift, which it achieved in February. It planned to hand the mine site over to the Department of Conservation in June.

Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little said he had received the report and was “obliged” to have Pike River Recovery Agency experts review it before commenting.

The 29 men who died in the Pike River mine in 2010.

“The agency has indicated it will need to have WorkSafe review it in the first instance,” he said.

“The Government has fulfilled its commitment to safely recover the Pike River mine drift. Forensic examination of the drift continues and the police have undertaken to drill additional boreholes for visual analysis.”

WorkSafe confirmed it had received a copy of the plan.

In a statement, chief inspector for extractives Paul Hunt said it was not a fully scoped out plan.

“Until there is a decision by the Pike River Recovery Agency (being the business currently responsible under health and safety law) to explore this proposal further, WorkSafe’s role is limited.

“If we are to review the proposal’s adherence to mining regulations and obligations under health and safety law, we would need a detailed plan that outlines a schedule of work and a full risk assessment,” he said.

The families’ statement said the mining experts’ plan eliminated the “serious risk” that drilling a borehole at the fan site would cause a roof collapse.

“If the police borehole drilling creates a new roof collapse as it did at borehole 50, then their efforts will not uncover evidence but will instead bury that vital evidence forever,” it said.

The Pike River Recovery Agency reach the roof fall 2.3 kilometres up the drift access tunnel.

A police spokeswoman said planning for six boreholes was ongoing, and would include a geotechnical review and risk assessment.

“No drilling activity will occur until the risk assessment has been peer reviewed by an independent geotechnical expert, and the outcomes shared with the Pike River Families Group Committee and feedback invited,” she said.

Agency chief executive Dave Gawn said he could not comment on the mine experts’ proposal until he had absorbed and processed it.

The families’ group said it had asked police, the Government and the agency to engage with the technical experts to find a way to recover the main fan site, which was the most important forensic site within the mine workings.

The report was completed pro bono by the independent technical advisory group, which included international mining and electrical engineers, ventilation experts, mines rescue, and health and safety experts.

It said evidence suggested the fan was the site of the first explosion and could significantly aid the criminal investigation if it was recovered.