PRC Pike River Coal

[Balance]

Good work, Mouse.

You are doing a damned good job!

Compared to some of the posters who keep asking stupid questions and can't be bothered getting off their backside to do some investigation, you are showing the way.

You are going to go a long way.

Keep it up!

[mouse]

Thanks Mouse,

So if i read this correctly they are actually through the Graben at points B & C, but because of the angle they need the tunnel at they have actually come through the Graben below the coal seam so now need to drill a bit further to reach the seam again. But they have moved the inseam driller back to the mine ready to start drilling through coal.

Like everyone i was hoping they would be back in coal by now, but still good to know where they are up to.

Yes and No. I would guess that there are still around 40 metres to go through rock to get to coal, but the engineers are not sure. They are working in a black hole. Clearly the $50million needed indicates that they see the end of this year to be around the target date for steady state coal production.
Further they seem to have run out of cash options from the bank. No more working capital coming, hence our cash call shortly.
The solution is Hydro Mining. But getting the start date for that is beyond the engineers telescope. We, shareholders, may have to view Pike as a bit of a punt. There could well be more 'fractured rock' ahead. However the SP looks quite good at around 90cents and has allowed for problems ahead.
A second solution is Peter Whittall in Wellington chatting with DOC etc about us extracting all mineable coal. Hence we get 40million tons, not 18million tons. That may well offset some fractured rock problems.

[digger]

Yes and No. I would guess that there are still around 40 metres to go through rock to get to coal, but the engineers are not sure. They are working in a black hole. Clearly the $50million needed indicates that they see the end of this year to be around the target date for steady state coal production.
Further they seem to have run out of cash options from the bank. No more working capital coming, hence our cash call shortly.
The solution is Hydro Mining. But getting the start date for that is beyond the engineers telescope. We, shareholders, may have to view Pike as a bit of a punt. There could well be more 'fractured rock' ahead. However the SP looks quite good at around 90cents and has allowed for problems ahead.
A second solution is Peter Whittall in Wellington chatting with DOC etc about us extracting all mineable coal. Hence we get 40million tons, not 18million tons. That may well offset some fractured rock problems.

As i understand it it is not possible to take all the coal as coal pillers have to remain in place to hold the roof up. About two years ago i asked Peter w this point and wondered if concrete pillers could be put in place but at the time he felt that was too far down the road to work at.So lets see if we can get the 18 million tonnes first.

[manxman]

From the Herald website 14 March

Forest and Bird says the Government has plans to start mining on 7,000 hectares of conservation land.

It has learnt of three sites named in a discussion document as areas the Government wants to allow mining in, 3 News reported.

They include high-value areas on Great Barrier Island, the Coromandel Peninsula, and the Eastern Paparoa National Park on the West Coast.

According to Forest and Bird, this shortlist of sites is in line to lose Schedule Four protection, opening the door for mining to begin.

But the conservation group said the areas all have ecological and landscape value, which is why they have previously been protected.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee said a public discussion would be held once Cabinet made a decision.

"I'm not saying anything until that time," he told One News.

This really could be a biggie for Pike. The current plan is to leave sufficient coal pillars stop the land above subsiding. If you extract all the coal, the roof falls in, bit by bit, over the years. This subsidence eventually works its way to the surface, and may not happen evenly. The result, in the national park, is that trees which may have grown vertically for three hundred years, adopt a wee tilt. Perhaps thirty years after the mine has been worked out, a tree leans over. If there is no one there to see it, what does it matter? There is no effect on biodiversity or habitat. Landscape value would be essentially unaffected. Trres fall over all the time.

It would not be a quick gain for PRC. You would still have to mine to the full extent of the mine plan, leaving adequate pillars in place, and then extract the pillars starting at the extremities and working back to the pit bottom, letting the roof fall in its own good time. But right away you would double the coal reserves, which would provide a welcome boost to the credibility of the mine, and perhaps reduce the cost of raising capital.

Gerry Brownlee has to decide whether the minimal effect of surface settlement caused by pillar extraction is sufficient justification for locking up 20 million tonnes of coal. No one is talking about a huge new open pit operation ripping up a pristine landscape.

There will be a public debate, he says. Be prepared for a s***load of mindless misinformation.

[mouse]

From the Herald website 14 March



This really could be a biggie for Pike. The current plan is to leave sufficient coal pillars stop the land above subsiding. If you extract all the coal, the roof falls in, bit by bit, over the years. This subsidence eventually works its way to the surface, and may not happen evenly. The result, in the national park, is that trees which may have grown vertically for three hundred years, adopt a wee tilt. Perhaps thirty years after the mine has been worked out, a tree leans over. If there is no one there to see it, what does it matter? There is no effect on biodiversity or habitat. Landscape value would be essentially unaffected. Trres fall over all the time.

It would not be a quick gain for PRC. You would still have to mine to the full extent of the mine plan, leaving adequate pillars in place, and then extract the pillars starting at the extremities and working back to the pit bottom, letting the roof fall in its own good time. But right away you would double the coal reserves, which would provide a welcome boost to the credibility of the mine, and perhaps reduce the cost of raising capital.

Gerry Brownlee has to decide whether the minimal effect of surface settlement caused by pillar extraction is sufficient justification for locking up 20 million tonnes of coal. No one is talking about a huge new open pit operation ripping up a pristine landscape.

There will be a public debate, he says. Be prepared for a s***load of mindless misinformation.

The problem at present is that Conservation will not allow any slump at all on the surface above the mining operations. Pillars would still be left in, but even so slump, subsidence, would occur. We should selectively fell trees above the mine site, that is, select them and then fell them. Plant new ones later.

This is why Peter Whittell is in Wellington. To try to get permission to allow a gradual slump of the surface above the mine, plus get us rights to do more mining in the area. Hence using our facilities 100%. We have to work now since the Labour lot, plus Greens, are totally opposed to mining. But once we employ staff as at Pike it is difficult for them to close us down. Pike is establising a track record with Govt which will stand us in very good stead when the contracts are issued.

Also, dont forget, National are very interested in West Coast votes. Forty million tons of coal would be helpful.

[manxman]

We should selectively fell trees above the mine site, that is, select them and then fell them. Plant new ones later.

That's very naughty. Just as well Helen the cat didn't hear you.

I'm sure Gerry Brownlee can be convinced that a bit of settlement won't be the end of the world, and DOC will find more important things to do. They won't be able to oppose everything this government wants to do, and will need to save their credibility for where it can make a real difference. The problem is that if Joe Public is being whipped into hysteria, then the government are politicians first and foremost, and may find that the electoral price is too high.

[Dr_Who]

Can someone give me the coal reserve estimate PRC has under ground? Cheers. Saves me time looking in the report. I wanna do some numbers.

[root]

Scheduled to produce 18 million tonnes over the next 18 years.

[Dr_Who]

Thanks Root

[mouse]

Can someone give me the coal reserve estimate PRC has under ground? Cheers. Saves me time looking in the report. I wanna do some numbers.

The approvals are for only 18million tons. However, there is at least 40million tons of coal that can be mined and leave pillars in to give some support from subsidence. If we could mine and damn the subsidence we might even get far more than 40 million tons.
Which is why I am a supporter of selective logging.

Thus all of our calculations are very difficult to make.