Solid Energy confident it can meet DoL requirements

21 February 2012

Solid Energy confident it can meet DoL requirements to lift Spring Creek Prohibition Notice

Solid Energy is confident it can take all steps necessary to ensure that the Department of Labour (DoL) can lift its Prohibition Notice on Spring Creek Mine but says it may now take longer to meet the company’s own expectations for restarting underground operations at the Greymouth site.

On Monday morning (20 February) the Department’s Mines Inspectorate issued Spring Creek with a Prohibition Notice following three recent safety incidents. The effect of the Notice is that all underground operations have ceased, except for regular inspections by staff and any actions required to ensure the on-going safety of the underground environment.

Solid Energy management this morning (21 February) discussed the Notice with Inspectorate officials and Chief Operating Officer, Barry Bragg, says the company has a clear understanding of the steps it needs to take to satisfy the Department’s requirements and have the Notice lifted.

“For us, that’s a start but it’s only the first step,” Mr Bragg says. “We have our own expectations and standards that need to be satisfied. I said yesterday we are very disappointed and believe these incidents should not have happened.

“For our senior management and Board to be satisfied that work can re-start, we will need to complete our investigations into each incident and have made any changes which result from those inquiries,” Mr Bragg says. “That could take quite a bit longer.”

The stoppage is not expected to have any material impact on the company’s 2012 Full Year result. This is because the mine is currently in development, preparing the next block of coal resources for extraction, and this phase is expected to continue for the remainder of the 2011-12 year.
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