ThePike River coal field is located between 700 and 1000 m above sea level on
the West Coast of the South Island. The area contains a resource of some 60
million tonnes of coal in a single coal seam and is part of the Paparoa mountain
range that receives between 6.0 and 6.5 m of rainfall per annum. The area has
been isolated and has received no on the coal plateau but has been extensively
logged in the lower 3.5 km of Pike Stream. The PRCC development proposal
recognises this and calls for an environmentally benign development that
includes underground development of this resource. The coalfield abuts and is
partly overlain by the Paparoa National Park. The underground development will
enable a number of environmental goals to be readily achieved:
it will be out of sight of the public,
it will not impact the national park,
noise will be mostly absent,
there will be absolute minimal disturbance to the land surface,
coal will be transported from the mine to a dewatering complex on PRCC land
in a slurry pipeline thus obviating the need for trucks and noise in Pike Stream
valley,
all water draining from the mine will be collected, treated if required to
consent standards and discharged from a single point,
the road into the area will allow for an effective predator control
programme to be undertaken enhancing native bird life,
an environment suitable for the reintroduction of Whio (Blue Duck) will be
created, and
the net effect of the mine development
on the environment will be positive.