Giles Creek mine
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{{#badges: CoalNewZealand|Navbar-NZcoal}}The Giles Creek mine is an opencast sub-bituminous coal mine in the Giles Creek Valley near Reefton on the West Coast of the South Island. The mine is owned by Birchfield Coal.
Background
Location: Giles Creek Valley near Reefton on the West Coast of the South Island. Some or all of the 235 ha mine is on Department of Conservation land.[1]
Coordinates: -42.036799,171.799021
Coal field: Inangahua
Background: Started production in 1984
Current owner: Birchfield Coal[2]
Status: Operating
Production capacity: 500,000 tonnes/year[3]
Estimated recoverable reserves: 16 million tonnes[4]
Mining technique: Opencast. Shallow deposit exposed by removal of top soil. Coal removed by hydraulic diggers, screened and washed.
Type of coal: Sub-bituminous, clean burning, low in sulfur[5]
Solid fuel calorific value (gross) 19.04 MJ/kg (Range for NZ coal 15.25–31.95 MJ/kg)[6]
Market information: Supplies the industrial, service and primary production sectors in Canterbury, Nelson and the West Coast. ref>Birchfield Coal, "About our coal", Birchfield Coal website, accessed April 2012.</ref> May be used as a blend with faster burning, higher heat value coals.[7]
Environmental and/or health & safety issues: The company states that, “After the coal has been extracted the area is levelled and planted in native living forest.”[8]
- ↑ Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, "Mining operations on Department of Conservation land", accessed December 2012
- ↑ Ministry of Economic Development, "Operating coal mines", Ministry of Economic Development website, accessed March 2012.
- ↑ Birchfield Coal, "About", Birchfield Coal website, accessed April 2012.
- ↑ Birchfield Coal, "About our coal", Birchfield Coal website, accessed April 2012.
- ↑ Birchfield Coal, "About our coal", Birchfield Coal website, accessed April 2012.
- ↑ Ministry for Economic Development, "Data Energy File", accessed December 2012
- ↑ Birchfield Coal, "About our coal", Birchfield Coal website, accessed April 2012.
- ↑ Birchfield Coal Mines Ltd,"Birchfield Coal Facts", accessed December 2012
