Contractor will mine Stockton

By FIONA ROTHERHAM

State-owned miner Solid Energy plans to contract out the operation of its largest-producing mine, Stockton, in the Buller region.

It hopes the move will free capital to invest in new mines on the Stockton plateau, where recoverable coal reserves are estimated at more than 100 million tonnes.

Solid Energy's chief executive, Don Elder, said changes were essential at the Stockton mine if the company was to remain viable. Pressure on coal prices had forced recent closures of export coalmines in Australia and Canada.

Solid Energy reported a $86 million loss last year after bungled foreign exchange dealings, requiring a $42 million capital injection from the Government. It recently ended its coal-barging trade from Westport a year early.

The company has analysed reserves for other mines in the area, but spokesman Brett Sangster said a lot of work was still needed "on the best methods of extraction and whether they make commercial sense."

With present production levels and cost structures, the open-cast Stockton mine has an economic life of only eight years, depending on international coal prices and movements in the New Zealand dollar. It has 15 million tonnes of coal remaining.

At present, Kaipara Excavators strips overburden above Stockton's coal seams while Solid Energy extracts the coal.

The companies employ a total of 121 people, whose jobs depend on whether the new contractor employs them. No changes will occur at the mine until next year.

The Stockton mine contributes two-thirds of the company's export coal production.