Abseiling into an open mine pit
There’s only one way into the Martha open mine pit – backwards and 200m straight down.
A team of the OceanaGold Mine’s emergency service squad took the only route into the pit at present by abseil to run a fibre optic cable to a rescue shelter at the bottom during work that also gave them the chance to practise rescue procedures in the pit.
The shelter is part of the underground mine that has made its way into the Martha open mine pit as a means of escape for the miners.
‘‘There is a refuge chamber there and we are establishing comms connection to it so they can then communicate via phones and radio to the surface if they need us,’’ emergency service adviser at OceanaGold Dave Oliver explained during the work last Tuesday.
The only way down the pit is by abseiling because the pit’s haul road has been blocked since April 2016 when an enormous slip of two million tonnes of rock and rubble collapsed from the north wall.
OceanaGold received consent in December to resume open-pit mining for a further 10 years. This means that midway through this year the company will be stabilising and clearing the slip so it can resume operating the Martha mine.
The rescue squad is made up of 30 volunteers from different parts of the organisation – and includes the likes of electricians, process workers, underground miners, geologists and engineers.
‘‘The primary focus is running the cable but in the process, we get to practise some of our emergency procedures in the open pit and in particular the new emergency shelter at the bottom of the pit,’’ Oliver said.
The tragedy at Pike River had made all in mining mindful of the risks involved, Oliver said.
‘‘A mining rescue is a particularly hazardous thing to be involved with but we train hard and we manage the risks during training so we hope that in an event of an emergency callout we are well prepared.’’
Mal Coleman was one of the two volunteers that took the abseil journey down with the fibre optic cable.
‘‘The way down was a lot easier than the way up but it was very good – good to get on the rope and get rescue-ready.
‘‘The challenge was the debris. We had a spotter on the far hill telling us when we were going down which rocks to look out for as he can see with binoculars where not to stand, because when we are going backward we have to look straight down at our feet,’’ Coleman said.
The mine rescue squad also helps out around the Waihı¯ community with search and rescue and fire service.