Pike River restarts work

Pike River Coal has restarted work on the main tunnel to access hard coking coal at its site northeast of Greymouth.

The company said substantial work on the pit bottom working area had been carried out since the tunnel was halted on April 11.

Over 300 cubic metres of structural concrete has been poured in the pit-bottom area to provide floors and walls for the water and coal sumps as well as foundations for pump and electrical installations.

The coal preparation plant is now 90 per cent complete.

The tunnel is on track to intersect the Hawera fault located at approximately 2100m later this month and to intersect the coal seam at approximately 2300m in July.