Government welcomes Pike River mine sale

The Government welcomes the confirmation today of the conditional sale of the Pike River Coal Mine assets to Solid Energy, the Minister of Energy and Resources, Phil Heatley, said tonight.

“The sale, conditional on a number of mostly procedural matters including transfer of the mining permit, is a positive step towards determining the future of resource development at the mine,” he said.

“The Government’s expectations on body recovery haven’t changed. Solid Energy will be expected to take all reasonable steps to recover the remains of the men in the Pike River mine in conjunction with any commercial mining at Pike River in future, provided such an operation is safe, technically feasible and financially credible.

“The Government is committed to the recovery of the bodies, as long as it means no further risk to human life.”

The Government and Solid Energy have entered into an agreement regarding body recovery to formalise the Government’s expectations. The letter of agreement is attached.

Background

Pike River Coal Limited (PRC) was placed in receivership on 13 December 2010 and has remained in receivership to this date, managed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. On 9 March 2012, Solid Energy and the receivers announced a conditional agreement to sell PRC’s assets to Solid Energy, subject to Solid Energy carrying out due diligence.

Solid Energy has completed its due diligence and today signed a formal sale and purchase agreement with PRC, conditional on a number of mostly procedural matters.

Related Documents

Pike_River_body_recovery (pdf 133.15 KB)