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Spring Creek Mine -
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Full underground work at a state-owned mine will not be resuming this week despite The Department of Labour lifting its prohibition notice.
The department shut down Spring Creek mine, about 10km outside of Greymouth, after three incidents in the last two weeks.
It said a diesel generator caught fire, injecting deadly carbon monoxide into the coalmine, where 40 men work underground, and ventilation fans in the mine stopped working.
Gavin Taylor, acting chief inspector mines for the department, said Solid Energy has provided the information required.
"We are confident that the company has appropriately addressed the immediate concerns and is moving to address the potential risks that we had identified."
"On that basis, we have lifted the prohibition notice placed on Spring Creek on Monday."
He said over the next month, a team from the High Hazards Unit
will audit Spring Creek's safety systems and check that the
corrective actions proposed have been implemented.
Barry Bragg, Solid Energy's Chief Operating Officer, said despite
the department's prohibition notice being lifted the mine would not
immediately resume full underground operations.
"A return to full underground operations will not happen this
week," Bragg said.
"Our own internal investigations are still being completed and there will be recommendations from those which will take time to complete, especially if they involve widespread training."
Solid Energy said workers at its Spring Creek mine were never in danger despite the mine being closed because of safety concerns.
Bragg said earlier this week that he was "very unhappy" about the repeat incidents, which he blamed on faulty engineering.
However he said he was confident there would not be a repeat of the Pike River explosions at Spring Creek. Twenty-nine men died in a series of blasts at the mine in November 2010.
"We are confident, but we're not happy that these events occurred, and it's our responsibility to fix the problems," Bragg said.
"We are taking them very, very seriously."
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