By 3 News online staff
The Spring Creek mine, closed down on Monday due to safety concerns, has been given the all-clear to reopen.
Acting chief mine inspector Gavin Taylor says Solid Energy, the mine's owner, 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," says Mr Taylor.
"Within the next month, a team from the High Hazards Unit will be auditing Spring Creek’s safety systems and checking that the corrective actions proposed have been implemented effectively."
Work at the site, near Greymouth, was stopped earlier this week when the Department of Labour issued a prohibition notice because of three “recent incidents” at the underground mine.
In the last month, a diesel generator caught fire and injected high concentrations of carbon monoxide into the mine, a fan tripped with no alert to management for 90 minutes and an underground auxiliary fan stopped working on two consecutive days but did not, as it should have, stop the mining machine.
The incidents “should not have happened”, chief operating officer Barry Bragg said.
''The company views these incidents very seriously. We recognise that expectations for underground mining have been raised substantially.
''We will work very closely with the Department to ensure we meet our and their expectations prior to resuming mining at Spring Creek.''
There were around 40 workers underground at the time of the incidents, but Mr Bragg says there was no risk to life.
3 News