Pike River budget may need a boost

An operation to re-enter the Pike River mine is on track to exceed its

$36 million budget and require a taxpayer top-up.

Pike River Recovery Agency forecasts show the project running out of money mid-2020 – prompting the need for more cash from the Government to complete its work, expected to be finished by the end of November 2020.

The agency was set up in January

2018 to re-enter the mine drift with the hope of finding out why 29 men died in a series of explosions in November 2010. The Government originally budgeted $7.6m a year for three years, totalling $23m. It then topped up the budget to $36m.

Agency chief executive Dave Gawn said it would review costs to try to meet the budget target. ‘‘We have enough money to conduct operations into the first half of next year but the operations are taking longer than expected when we submitted the budget in November 2018.’’

The agency would ‘‘possibly’’ need to go back to the Government for more money during the year, Gawn said. ‘‘There is much that we don’t know about Pike River mine and how it responds to us. This makes all estimates somewhat volatile. We are still working through it and trying to refine it as much as is possible,’’ he said.

The latest annual report shows the agency spent $17.6m up to the end of June 2019. That includes $4.4m on wages and $12.9m on operating expenses. The annual report says the agency expects to spend $12.1m up to the end of June 2020.

Since January 2018, the agency has progressed up to the 170-metre seal. It previously removed the 30m seal and successfully ventilated the

2.3-kilometre drift with fresh air using a nitrogen plant imported from Australia. Gawn said it was expensive to source equipment from Australia but necessary because underground mining no longer existed in New Zealand. The Rocsil plug, which was installed at the top of the drift, alone cost $1m. It was installed in front of the rockfall to allow the 170m seal to be removed. The atmosphere beyond the plug was pressurised with nitrogen so fresh air does not reach the mine workings.

Once the agency reaches the plug, it will need to apply for an exemption extension from WorkSafe or a new exemption to go the last 15m between the plug and the rockfall.

The agency was hiring more miners which could get the job done faster but would cost more in wages, Gawn said. The miners will work in two shifts for 16 hours a day beginning in January, to recover up to 40m a day. They will check the roof, take photographs for the police forensic team, and search for any evidence or remains.

Some areas would take longer because they needed additional roof support work, Gawn said. There were six faultlines running through the tunnel which would need to be inspected. ‘‘From about 180m, there will be a significant amount of work required to re-support the roof.’’

The Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry, Andrew Little, said the recovery of the mine drift was going well. ‘‘I have always said the recovery will take as long as it takes, and that it will be done safely. Safety is the bottom line,’’ he said.

‘‘The agency have been totally transparent around costs, which can be volatile as there is much we still don’t know about the underground environment and the mine’s strata,’’ he said.

Little had ‘‘complete confidence’’ in the agency as it refined costs.

National Party MP and Pike spokesman Mark Mitchell said Little had indicated he would review the reentry process in 2020, which was ‘‘the right thing to do’’ as ‘‘throwing money at it’’ was not necessarily worth it.