Govt advertising for Pike River electrical technician to work on re-entry

The government is recruiting people to help with the re-entry of the Pike River mine where 29 men lost their lives in 2010. Photo/Mark Mitchell.

A recruitment consultant says the government will need to pay around $200k to attract an electrical technician qualified enough to help enable the re-entry of the Pike River mine.

The government has begun advertising for the first of three mine site roles to be employed by its Pike River Recovery Agency.

A decision was only made in November to re-enter the mine where 29 men lost their lives in November 2010.

The advert says it is looking for an electrical technician who "puts safety first" and is able to quickly build strong working relationships based on trust and transparency.

The role requires a person with underground experience, qualifications and a full NZ Electrical Licence (EWRB), preferably with a Mining Endorsement.

Ray Crocker, a manager at Beyond Recruitment specialising in engineering and technical roles, said someone with those qualifications was rarer than hen's teeth.

"My guess is they will have to pull someone from Australia," he said.

Crocker said the underground experience requirement made it a very specialised position.

"They will probably want a degree qualified person," he added.

He expected the role, which is a fixed term contract until October, to attract a salary of close to $200k.

The job advert went out on Monday with the position closing on January 25.

Crocker said it was a pretty short window for the kind of person they were looking for.

"They probably should have put the ad out prior to Christmas."

The agency said it would also be advertising two further mine positions in the coming weeks.

The government has allocated $36 million for the re-entry and work is expected to start on it by February with the first major task breaching the 30m seal inside the drift.