The Mt William North Mining Project is a proposed coal mine planned for the
West Coast Region
The West Coast ( mi, Te Tai Poutini, lit=The Coast of Poutini, the Taniwha) is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island that is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. ...
of New Zealand.
Solid Energy
Solid Energy was the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government.
The company was formed from the former government department State Coal Mines. It was then established as a state owne ...
, the state-owned mining company, applied for
resource consent
A resource consent is the authorisation given to certain activities or uses of natural and physical resources required under the New Zealand Resource Management Act (the "RMA"). Some activities may either be specifically authorised by the RMA or b ...
s in February 2012 to mine an area near the existing
Stockton Mine
Stockton Mine, on the Stockton Coal Field, is New Zealand's largest opencast mining operation. The entrance to the mine is at the former settlement of Stockton.
Extent
The coal field is situated between 5 and 10 kilometres linear distance so ...
. Preparation costs are expected to be $30-40 million to mine five million tonnes of
coking coal
Metallurgical coal or coking coal is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke. Coke is an essential fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for primary steelmaking. The demand for metallurgical coal is highly coupled ...
.
The area covered by the resource consent is approximately 294 ha and is adjacent to the proposed
Cypress Mine. It lies about 25 km to the north-east of
Westport.
Forest and Bird
Forest & Bird ( mi, Te Reo o te Taiao), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation of New Zealand's indigenous ...
, New Zealand's largest environmental organisation, say it will treat the resource consent application in a different manner to Bathhurst Resources proposed
Escarpment Mine Project to the south.
Forest and Bird, as well as other organisations, oppose the Escarpment Mine Project because of the high ecological value on the site of the proposed mine.
See also
*
Mining in New Zealand
Mining in New Zealand began when the Māori quarried rock such as argillite in times prior to European colonisation. Mining by Europeans began in the latter half of the 19th century.
New Zealand has abundant resources of coal, silver, iron ore, l ...
References
External links
Mt William North Mining Projectat the
West Coast Regional Council
{{coord, 41.689899, S, 171.909242, E, region:NZ_type:landmark, display=title
Coal mines in New Zealand
Surface mines in New Zealand
West Coast, New Zealand