MINERS' MONTHLY: JUNE 2021

Echo and Federation Mining field trip

A field trip this month (June) allowed attendants to get a close up look at operations at Reefton's Echo coal mine, and Federation Mining’s development at its Snowy River site. The Minerals West Coast contingent travelled by van to Reefton and Echo coal mine was the first stop of the day. Echo sits in the Garvey Creek Coalfield (part of the Brunner coal measures), producing coal for export, which is taken by rail to the Lyttelton Port before being taken by ship to international markets.

Mine manager, Eamon Moynihan started the day by giving the Minerals West Coast visitors a run through of the history, development, and modern operations of the mine, followed by a visit to view the working pit.

Then visitors were shown the results of the rehabilitation efforts at the site, as well as the mussel shell reactor acid mine drainage treatment.

After travelling back through Reefton for lunch, Minerals West Coast travelled south to visit Federation Mining’s Snowy River site. Broken up into groups of three, each group was given a run through of the development of the site, and future exploration and mine plans, an explanation of the wetland water treatment system, and a walking tour of the tunnel development to date.

Photos of the underground development can be seen below. 

Nights interview

Every ten weeks Minerals West Coast manager, Patrick Phelps, speaks to Bryan Crump (host of Nights on RNZ National) to discuss whatever subject relating to mining is topical at the time.

This month’s focus of conversation was where the mining history sits in the context of New Zealand’s biodiversity crisis.

Mining matters #10: Significant natural areas

In the same context, the latest installment of Mining Matters looks at the issue of significant natural areas – SNAs’ – on private land. This video can be watched in full below.

Meeting to approve merger of Minerals West Coast and West Coast Commercial Goldminers' Association

As notified in Minerals West Coast’s May newsletter, a meeting will be held in July to confirm the merger of the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association with Minerals West Coast. This amalgamation was agreed to in principle at the annual general meetings of both respective organisations in Reefton in September last year.
The meeting will be held at the Westland RSA on Wednesday the 14th of July, starting at 7:00pm. 

If government this government implements its policy proposals as drafted, coal boilers in New Zealand industry could be a thing of the past within the next two decades.
The discussion document, ‘Phasing out fossil fuels in process heat’ is the fourth document of its kind in the past in just over two years. Documents of this type have been published in January 2019, December 2019, by the Climate Change Commission as recently as February this year (and submissions are still being reviewed).

The government is proposing to ban all new coal boilers, and phase out existing boilers no later than 2037 under proposed changes to the Resource Management Act, essentially through the consenting process – the proposal is effectively to deny new consents for coal boilers for low and medium temperature (everything under 300°C) by 2037.
This would capture every boiler in the South Island currently using coal for space heating, hothouse growing, dairy product manufacturing, and meat processing.
Minerals West Coast’s submission can be read below.

After years of inaction since the November 2017 pledge that there would be no new mines on conservation land evidence suggests the government is still moving to implement the policy, however slow such movement may seem.

Documents released this month to the Greymouth Star under the Official Information Act have shown up to as recently as March this year both the Department of Conservation and the Ministry for Business, Innovation, and Employment have been working on progressing the policy.

These documents show the progress to date has been slow due to a lack of agreement within government, and a desire to clarify the status of stewardship land.

Minerals West Coast has prepared a breakdown of the most relevant parts of the documents released, available below.

A good example of why access to conservation land is vital for all resources, be it coal, gold, rock and aggregate, is covered in the latest installment of Mining matters on Minerals West Coast's YouTube channel.

As Federation Mining progresses its three kilometre long journey underground to establish its mine at Snowy River, activity in the Reefton Goldfield is in the headlines.
Other companies, such as Reefton Gold, and Siren Gold, are also actively carrying out exploration programmes to find gold deposits in the area.

This month NZ Herald reporter Kate McNamara visited the West Coast to cover the ‘mini goldrush’ underway in the Buller. The article is available here for those who have a subscription to the NZ Herald.

A field day in mid-June is fast approaching, but it’s not too late to register. Minerals West Coast is running a field day to visit mine sites in the Reefton area on Wednesday the 16th of June.

The field trip will visit local coal mines, looking at mine site management of health and safety, water treatment, and rehabilitation on conservation land. In the afternoon, Minerals West Coast will visit Federation Mining’s Snowy River mine site for a look at how the three kilometre tunneling project is progressing.

If you’ve been thinking of attending and haven’t registered yet, or just want to know more, check out the details.

This month The Drug Detection Agency put on a workshop at Tai Poutini Polytechnic to enable miners to manage and respond to drug and alcohol abuse in the mining industry.
Therese Gibbens of the Drug Detection Agency took attendants through how to identify behaviours associated with the different uses of drugs, what responsibilities employers have for drug use in the workplaces, and approaches for dealing with these issues.
Those who require drug detection services or advice or systems for managing drug and alcohol issues in the workplace can contact Therese on either 021 467 042 or Therese.Gibbens@tdda.com

An amalgamation of Minerals West Coast with the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association was discussed at the AGMs of both respective organisations in Reefton last September.Minerals West Coast and the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association will be meeting on the 14th of July to discuss progressing the merger. Members of both organisations are invited to attend.The meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm on Wednesday the 14th of July, at the Hokitika RSA (Sewell Street). More information on this meeting will be sent out shortly.

Minerals West Coast will be hosting a field day visiting mines in the Reefton area on the 16th of June, 2021. The field day will start from Equip Engineering (42 Jacks Road, Paroa) at 8:00am, arriving at the first mine in Reefton about 9:30am for induction with a site tour from 10:00am onward. The morning will be made up of visits to coal mines in the Reefton area, looking at site rehabilitation and water management, as well as on site health and safety practices.

In the afternoon the field trip will visit Federation Mining's Snowy River site where the company's underground development is progressing.

Minerals West Coast expects to return to Greymouth by about 4:00pm.

For more details, including pricing, and to register, click the button below.

If you have any difficulty registering, or would like more details about this event, please contact Patrick Phelps on 021 238 6846, or manager@mwc.org.nz

Reducing the risk of drug and alcohol related harm in the workplace means knowing what steps to take to prevent it.

Minerals West Coast is proud to provide a four hour drug and alcohol workshop run by the Drug Detection Agency.

This will help equip mine and quarry managers to prevent, identify, and manage substance abuse in mines and quarries.

Topics covered in the four hour workshop will include, but not be limited to:

• Why it’s worthwhile conducting drug and alcohol testing
• When that testing can be conducted
• Who is involved in the testing process
• What new drug trends are emerging
• How to actively manage your company’s drug and alcohol policy
• Drugs that can be tested for (including prescription medicines and illicit substances
• Ho to identify the signs, symptoms and risks through behaviour and other indicators
  
  

This event is ideal for managers, leaders, and supervisors working on mines and in quarries.

The session will run from 1pm to 5pm.

To register for the event, please visit the event page and follow the instructions to pay by either credit card or request an invoice. Minerals West Coast uses this system to make registrations automatic and easy to manage. If you have any difficulty using this system, please phone Patrick on 021 238 6846.

MINERS' MONTHLY: MARCH 2021

Climate Change Commission submission lodged

Minerals West Coast's submission to the Climate Change Commission addressed the previous advice industry has given to the government on barriers to removing fossil fuels from New Zealand's energy profile, and the importance of cheap, reliable energy for New Zealand's provincial communities.

Much of the commission's analysis ignores previous rounds of policy consultation the government has held on removing fossil fuels from New Zealand's energy mix, especially process heat. Minerals West Coast raised this issue, and the cost to communities like the West Coast, in the submission sent to the Climate Change Commission. The full submission is available below.

The commission will now assess all the submissions it has received, and shared its finalised advice with the government on the 31st of May, 2021.

Mines Rescue CPD course on remote worksite safety

Being ready to respond to life or death emergencies was the central point of this month's CPD training event at Mines Rescue in Rapahoe. Glenville Stiles of Mines Rescue ran the three hour training session on emergency management planning. The session covered basics such as how to communicate with emergency services in areas with limited mobile coverage, or none at all; what plans to have in place for workers who operate on their own; access to injured staff in uneven terrain; having staff adequately trained in first-aid and having appropriate equipment on site. As well as having processes in place to be ready to respond in the event of injuries or other emergencies, Glenville emphasised the need to work through these plans in drills and practice sessions to ensure these plans are more than just documents.

Upcoming CPD events for 2021

Minerals West Coast will continue to organise training events for 2021 and notify members of events being organised by other industry groups. Events coming up in the coming months are in the table below.

Interview with on Nights RNZ National

About every ten weeks Minerals West Coast's manager, Patrick Phelps, speaks with the host of RNZ National's evening show, Nights, Bryan Crump. The most recent interview, on Tuesday the 23rd of March, focused mainly on the Climate Change Commission's advice to the New Zealand government. The full interview is available below.

The Climate Change Commission released its draft report on emissions budgets for the coming fifteen years through to 2035, and how New Zealand can meet its emissions reductions targets under the Paris Agreement.

The report had initially been set for six weeks of consultation, with a deadline for submissions of Sunday the 14th of March. Fifteen industry groups cosigned a letter requesting an extension to the consultation deadline. The extension was granted, and the submission deadline extended to Sunday the 28th of March. This extra two weeks will allow Minerals West Coast and others to submit a better researched and detailed submission than would have otherwise been possible.

​Minerals West Coast is in the process of drafting its submission and will be consulting with members in the coming weeks. Once this draft is written, it will be circulated to membership for wider review. 
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MEDIA COVERAGE FOLLOWING REPORT'S PUBLICATION
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At the time the draft report was released, there was significant media coverage of the many aspects of the report. Minerals West Coast outlined the issues with the commission’s report within local and national media in the days following its publication in mid-March. Minerals West Coast manager, Patrick Phelps, spoke on Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report programme to discuss the reality of what the commission is proposing. You can listen to this interview below.

An article also appeared on stuff.co.nz's website outlining the potential impact of the Climate Change Commission's draft recommendations for the West Coast economy. You can read this article by clicking the picture below.​

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CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EVENTS 2021
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Minerals West Coast is working to ensure there are ample opportunities for the coming year for mine and quarry managers to attend training events and workshops over the coming year. If you haven’t registered yet for the first event for the year, a March workshop on remote workplace emergency management, please do so. Click the button below for details.​
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Other events on the horizon are outlined below, with those being organised or run by Minerals West Coast coloured gold. As dates and events are confirmed, Minerals West Coast will work to distribute notices and invitations. Please contact Patrick Phelps if you have any questions on either 021 238 6846 or by email at manager@mwc.org.nz ​

Other events are being planned for the year and will be made known to members as early as possible to allow operators to make plans in advance.

Minerals West Coast will be holding its annual forum again this year, most likely in September of October. 

NEW ZEALAND PETROLEUM AND MINERALS TRAINING NIGHT IN GREYMOUTH
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With annual summary reports to be filled out online from this year onwards, New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals staff visited Greymouth in mid-February to guide local miners through the process. NZPAM has produced a video guide showing the steps through the online ASR process. This video, now publicly available, can be found on YouTube, by clicking here, or watched below.​

Minerals West Coast invites West Coast mine and quarry managers to attend the first of our training events for the year. 

If you are a mine or quarry manager, ensuring having your work site ready to respond in the event of an emergency could be life saving. Minerals West Coast invites you to attend this three-hour workshop being held by Mines Rescue to ensure you and your staff are ready.
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Many West Coast mines and quarries operate in remote locations a long way from emergency services and with limited mobile phone coverage.

The Mines Rescue run workshop will cover the following areas:

• The Importance of emergency planning relative to the scale of the operation
• Overcoming location, distance, and time barriers to medical assistance
• End-user targeted solutions and simple application
• Type of resources to effectively support emergency management
• ‘Lone-Worker’ solutions

The workshop will be held at the Mines Rescue Station at Rapahoe, north or Greymouth, on Tuesday the 9th of March from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

For more information, or to book tickets, for you or one of your managers, click the link below.

If you have any questions about this event, or your CPD hours and obligations as a holder of a certificate of competence for mine and quarry managers, please contact Patrick Phelps on 021 238 6846, or manager@mwc.org.nz

Whether there will be any relief for the minerals sector due to the Labour-NZ First- Green Party coalition becoming a Labour Party dominated Parliament remains to be seen. Green co-leader, James Shaw, has retained his position as minister for climate change, Megan Woods and David Parker have both continued as ministers for energy & resources and environment respectively. The most notable change is that of minister of conservation from Green Party MP, Eugenie Sage to Labour's East Coast MP, Kiri Allan, who so far remains an unknown quantity. There have been mixed messages on whether the previous coalition's pledge of 'no new mines' on conservation land will be carried through as a priority this term. Minerals West Coast will continue to engage with government staff and elected representatives to argue for ongoing mining industry access to public conservation land in a socially and environmentally responsible manner on a case by case basis.  

Along with the ever elusive commitment on no new mines on conservation land, the previous government had other policy proposals that were of concern to the mining industry. These included a National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity (NPSIB), changes to the Crown Minerals Act, and proposed bans on some coal boilers along with a levy on coal use.

National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity

Some of the proposals of the NPSIB could be incredibly costly for regions like the West Coast that still have large areas of native vegetation and small rating bases. Of greatest concern is the requirement for local authorities like the West Coast Regional Council to identify and map significant natural areas (SNAs).

A joint submission from the Buller, Grey, and Westland District Councils, and the West Coast Regional Council, outlined the issues with the draft statement. 

The councils’ submission drew attention to the area of the West Coast already protected by being under Department of Conservation management, and the cost of implementing some policy proposals.

For example,  the West Coast Regional Council estimated the upfront cost of of implementing the policy were as high as $4,172,000, and an ongoing cost of potentially $3,949,000 over the next 30 years – this doesn’t include direct costs to landowners and iwi, or other affected parties.

To put this in context, the annual general rating income for the West Coast Regional Council is about $2,400,000.00.

The joint council submission can be found in full here.

Boiler bans and coal levies

Just before the election, the government published the submissions on its discussion document Accelerating renewable energy and energy efficiency in which proposals had been floated on banning some existing coal boilers by 2030 (where the end use temperature is below 100°C) or banning new coal boiler installations after 2030 where the end use requirement is below 300°C, along with a levy charged on coal users per tonne of coal consumed. Coal production is already levied on a per tonne basis when it is sourced from the mine, and use is already charged through the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme. 

The Labour Party included the ban on new boilers in its election manifesto, but didn't mention a ban on existing boilers, or a coal levy.  What the government's actions will be remains unclear. 

Food producers such as Westland Milk Products, the Meat Industry Association, and Horticulture New Zealand all expressed their concern at the impacts the coal targeted polices could have on the viability of their industries in the South Island. 

In its submission, the Meat Industry Association said in its submission that a “total coal ban would incur very significant costs to the industry”, and it estimated “cost of tens of millions (of dollars) in conversion of existing coal boilers to biomass, and additional annual operating costs. Many of the South Island sites (but also some in the far north) are in areas where wood chip supplies are likely to be in short supply, making biomass unfeasible”. 

Westland Milk Products stated in its submission that the eventual conversion from coal to some form of renewables is ‘inevitable’, but stressed for the foreseeable future there are no alternatives. In its submission, Westland Milk Products said it would be “unable to access the same level of reliable energy from electricity generation due to capacity constraints on the West Coast”. It said this would not change even if the proposed Arnold or Waitaha Hydro schemes were to proceed.

The most viable alternative to coal would be wood pellets, but the investment required would possibly cost $100,000,000 over the life of the plant. It said this “could be the difference between being viable and unviable” due to the uncertainty of supply and transport logistics. 

In a joint Horticulture New Zealand, Tomatoes NZ, and Vegetables NZ submission, hothouse growers said plainly “there are no viable alternatives to coal boilers”, and that growers cannot afford the cost of transitioning”.

Radio New Zealand covered these issues on its Morning Report programme earlier this month. The story is available below.

​The Minerals West Coast 2020 forum was this year held in Reefton in September. In all about 100 delegates attended, with the event limited to that number due to the alert level two restrictions in place at the time. The focus for the 2020 forum was on the products and the outcomes of mining. Steel manufacture, food production, gold mine security, jewellery, kiwi monitoring, and water quality control were among the topics speakers covered. As well as a good line up of presentations, the event was a good chance for people in the industry to connect and catch up throughout the day and in the evening at the post-forum dinner and drinks. It was good to have attendance from West Coast local body politicians and local MPs from both the Labour Party and National Party in attendance. Machinery exhibitions from sponsors such as Aratuna Freighters, CablePrice NZ, Oceana Gold, West-Trak, and Rosco Contractors Ltd. also added to the atmosphere on the day. The day also included the launch of Minerals West Coast's industry factbook, Prospects for the future, which is available in its digital form on Minerals West Coast's website - click here to find the online copy.

Later the same day, Bill Watts, whose grandfather had worked in the historic Globe underground hard-rock gold mine, cut the ribbon on the Oceana Gold funded 'Golden Globe Theatre' in the Reefton i-Site. 

In the theatre, people can see the story of gold mining in Reefton generally and the Globe and Progress mines specifically. The video is available below.

In October One News visited Stockton mine to look at how the coal export sector has been impacted by the international drop in coal prices resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. The story can be viewed on One News's website - click here to watch the full video.

In the past calendar year, Minerals West Coast manager, Patrick Phelps, has appeared on RNZ National's evening show, Nights with Bryan Crump, about once every ten weeks to discuss different topics relating to the mining industry on the West Coast. The final interview slot for the year was in the second week of November, and covered the future of mining on the West Coast. The interview is available below. An earlier interview about mining on conservation land, from September, is also available. 

Minerals West Coast's 2020 forum dates are set and tickets available. The theme for this years' forum is Product and will focus on the end uses of West Coast minerals. It will be held in Reefton on the 3rd of September. For full information about the forum, and to purchase tickets, click the button below. As with all industry events, time at the forum can be counted towards required CPD points for COC holders.

The impact of the rising cost of carbon under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme has been taking a toll on coal reliant businesses, particularly the South Island horticultural sector.  Minerals West Coast has been working hard to bring this issue to public attention and it is encouraging to have this issue picked up by national news agencies like Radio New Zealand and Television New Zealand. 

With ongoing economic uncertainty worldwide, gold prices continue to hold high in New Zealand and around the world. In recent days the price of gold per ounce reached record levels of US$1,946.72 (Tuesday 28th July) and holding steady since then, at NZ$2,946.29/oz today (Friday 31st July). The economic impact of Covid19 combined with tensions between the United States and China are understood to be behind the high prices. 

MinEx will be holding a health and safety training workshop in Greymouth on Tuesday the 11th of August. The workshop will focus on operating and safety systems and leadership and legislation. For more information, and to register online, visit the link here.
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Federation Mining (formerly Tasman Mining ) is getting nearer starting dates for the Blackwater project to reopen the the Birthday Reef ore body. When it was last operational, the ore body had produced 730,000 oz of gold from the historic gold mine that once stood at Waiuta. The Snowy River Mine will drive twin 3.3km tunnels from the Snowy Valley, with plans to meet the ore body where the old timers left it back in 1951. Located approximately 25 km from Reefton, the site will have a small surface infrastructure footprint and will employ a local workforce with support from specialist contractors, with production targets of 60,000 oz/year once operational. Works are expected to start by September this year. 

The New Zealand Minerals Forum, organised by Freeman Media, Straterra, and AusIMM, is back online and in person, to be held in Hamilton on the 13th and 14th of October. ​The New Zealand Minerals Forum in partnership with AusIMM is a two-day conference and exhibition covering mining in New Zealand. It is designed to showcase the New Zealand mining sector to stakeholders and prospective investors, and to educate and inform the New Zealand mining community. It attracts high-level attendance from mining companies, government regulators and agencies, the investment community and service companies. After disruptions due to lock down earlier this year, the event is back. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the forum website by clicking here.