After 23 days of illegal coal bucket occupation at Ngakawau, Bathurst Resources does not want the trespassers back, and is taking steps to make sure they don’t, says Ian Harvey, its Export Operations General Manager.
People are entitled to express concern over, and disagree with, the Buller Plateaux Continuation Project. But they need to do so without breaking the law, without disrupting lawful businesses, and by sticking to the facts.
I have been receiving many messages of support from people in Buller and the wider West Coast in response to the attempts by non-West Coasters to interrupt our plans. We will not withdraw from the fast-track process, and we will continue our world-class mining operations in Buller.
Knowing that the Stockton Mine could close as early as 2028, our plan to supply overseas customers out to 2040 – keeping 400 Coasters in good jobs – is reliant on the sped-up consenting process that the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 offers to us. We also recognise the importance of our social licence to continue to operate in Buller, and this means engagement with the community in multiple ways, to explain the benefits of what we seek to achieve.
Buller Plateaux Continuation Project
Our fast-track application is principally about mining coal reserves on the Denniston Plateau and moving coal by road to Stockton to blend with Stockton coal using our existing Stockton mine infrastructure.
Steelmakers blend our world-class product with inferior coals to reduce the fuel rate per tonne of steel produced, and thereby also carbon dioxide emissions. We’ve measured the savings at 315,000 tonnes of CO2 a year not emitted from using our West Coast coal, that would be otherwise emitted, a finding independently verified by SGS Laboratories. Compare that saving with our companywide annual emissions of around 110,000 tonnes of CO2.
Worldwide, high-quality metallurgical coal for steelmaking is in short supply; it’s not surprising that the European Union and New Zealand are among those that have declared this coal to be a critical mineral. While new technologies are in development there is no feasible alternative within the next 30-plus years to meet international steel demand.
Environmental management
There has been a lot of concern from the protesters about impacts on the environment from the Buller Plateaux Continuation Project. It almost goes without saying that New Zealand has environmental laws with which we must, and do, comply to ensure we meet our obligations, including posting bonds with local authorities against any unforeseen eventualities.
We replant in natives all land we disturb. As at March this year 3.25 million eco-sourced, native seedlings of various species have been planted on the Stockton Plateau. Eventually we will complete rehabilitation of the entire 1261ha of mine footprint (one-third has been completed to date). For decades we have been involved in conservation programmes regarding native land snails, lizards, kiwi and other species.
We draw on international best-practice to manage impacts on freshwater quality at Stockton, and that includes managing the Crown’s legacy at its cost of acid mine drainage from historic mining.
We plan to lodge our application for fast-track consent by November. This has been taking us a lot of time to prepare, because of the extensive technical environmental assessments needed. These inform our proposals to meet all applicable legislation. We’re assisted by our extensive experience of operating mines in the Stockton and Denniston environment.
It’s important to remember that under the fast-track, we must still meet requirements of the Resource Management Act, the Conservation Act, and the Wildlife Act. The fast-track is not about getting out of environmental commitments; it’s about speeding up regulatory processes, so we can future-proof our operations now – not in 10 years’ time after repeated court action. Activist groups have killed many good New Zealand projects in recent years by using our current regulatory processes to engage in legal warfare.
Building community resilience
Coal will eventually be replaced by other technologies for steel making. We have been working with local authorities, leaders and others on the West Coast on the region’s future resilience as an outstanding place to live, work and raise families.
We contribute $200,000 annually to the Buller Resilience Trust, as well as supporting numerous other community projects and events. We also pitch in during emergencies, such as flood events in Westport.
Many of our team are active in civil defence. During the 2021 Westport floods our workforce volunteered more than 16,000 hours to support our community. We also support the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust and the West Coast ROA Mining Rescue Helicopter, the Cancer Society on the West Coast, the Life Education Trust West Coast, and local community hall and museum projects.
We do this as part of giving back to our community, recognising that the benefits of our activities for Buller and the wider West Coast take many forms. We will spend annually $36 million on West Coast wages and salaries, and $76 million on local suppliers.
Ultimately, our activities account for 20 per cent of Buller District GDP.
Freshwater standards implications