When was pike river mine disaster

Videos and images from the Pike River mine explosion operation. Messages from some of the 29 miners families. This page contains links to our up-to-date information about the Pike River mine operation on the West Coast. The police inquiry into the disaster is continuing, with a spokesperson saying they "remain committed to a full and thorough investigation into events" and will everything they can to "provide answers".

The mine will almost certainly never reopen, but Bernie Monk, whose year old son Michael died in the disaster, wants one, final push to bring the men out. It was an emotional day for me when I first went down into the mine," he said. Out of tragedy comes pain, anger and calls for accountability and change. It is 10 years since Anna Osborne's husband, affectionately known as Milt, never came home, and she continues to agitate for stronger health and safety laws, and for employers to be prosecuted when things go wrong.

That is like a Pike River every five months in New Zealand," she said. But above all else there is a sadness that may never fade. It still hurts. It is still very, very raw. At least 14 dead in latest Chinese mine disaster. Life after a devastating mining disaster. Image source, Police handout. Pike decided to relocate the fans underground in stone at the bottom of a ventilation shaft. In the site of the ventilation shaft was moved to its eventual location north of Spaghetti Junction.

Placing a main fan underground in a gassy coal mine was a world first. The decision was neither adequately risk assessed nor did it receive adequate board consideration. A ventilation consultant and some Pike staff voiced opposition, but the decision was not reviewed. Putting the fan underground was a major error. After the explosion, however, the joint investigation expert panel used computer modelling to establish the ventilation sufficiency at the time of the explosion and found air supply to the inbye further into the mine areas of the mine would have been fragile, particularly in an emergency.

Ventilation consultants advised Pike on an as required basis, but no one at the mine had dedicated responsibility for ventilation management.

The main fan failed in the explosion. It was not explosion protected. A back-up fan at the top of the ventilation shaft was damaged in the explosion and did not automatically start as planned.

The ventilation system shut down. To provide safe working conditions in a gassy coal mine effective methane management is essential.

Methane levels at Pike River were managed through the ventilation system and some pre-drainage of the coal seam from in-seam boreholes. The in-seam boreholes were primarily to map the limits of the coal seam and were not designed for pre-drainage.

Some pre-drainage still occurred, requiring Pike to install a gas pipeline to vent methane to the surface. It is my opinion that it is time we took our methane drainage … more seriously and redesigned our entire system. Gas consultants were engaged and advised that the pipeline required urgent upgrading. The upgrade of the drainage pipeline was put on hold and free venting of large volumes of methane continued up to the time of the explosion.

Free venting is no longer recognised as normal practice in modern underground coal mines. Continuous monitoring of methane levels is essential to understanding the underground atmosphere and trends. Pike installed fixed sensors that reported to the control room, but at the time of the explosion there were too few and they were not well sited. There were only four fixed sensors in return air. One in the hydro panel reported to the operator of the water jet, and another was not functional.

Sensors were also located at the bottom and near the top of the ventilation shaft. The bottom one was broken for 11 weeks before the explosion and the other was unreliable and could not read above 2.

There were no fixed sensors reporting to the surface from the working areas of the mine inbye of the main fan. Gas readings were also taken throughout the mine using hand-held detectors and readings were noted in shift reports. Methane sensors attached to machinery were generally well maintained and calibrated to trip power at a set methane level. There was constant tripping on some machines, which led to the bypassing of sensors by some workers. Despite its limitations, the monitoring system showed there was a serious methane management problem.

After hydro mining began, high readings — many dangerously high — were recorded most days. This information was not properly assessed and the response to warning signs of an explosion risk was inadequate. Considerable electrical equipment was located underground at Pike River. High-voltage cables through the drift supplied power to underground.

At Spaghetti Junction cables were intertwined with utility services, including drainage pipes carrying methane, creating a hazard. Regulations require a gassy mine to have a restricted zone where all electrical equipment must be incapable of sparking an explosion. The dividing line at Pike River is shown below. Figure 2: Boundary between the restricted and non-restricted zones [6]. The non-restricted zone, as drawn, allowed unprotected electrical equipment to be located on the right-hand side of the line in most of pit bottom south.

The zone was fixed without a risk assessment, after electrical equipment was already installed and after the location of the main fan motor had been determined. A number of variable speed drives VSDs were located underground. VSDs controlled power supply to the fan and water pumps.

There were problems with the VSDs, one of which was replaced and a number of which were removed for repair. The extent of these problems underlined the need for a comprehensive risk assessment of the electrical installations underground at Pike River. Mine documents suggested the appointment of a senior electrical engineer to oversee electrical safety in the mine. An appointment was made but he had not started at the time of the explosion. Investigations are continuing to establish whether an electrical cause could have initiated the explosion, but answers will depend on gaining entry into the mine.

Hydro mining started at Pike River in September The gathering will be small — for many families the mouth of the mine is a traumatising place. They were never able to lead full lives and their families have suffered because of that. They have also suffered because no one was held accountable at the time. The name Pike River provokes a communal shudder in New Zealand — striking at the heart of the west coast where jobs are scarce, homes are buffeted by the meeting of coastal and alpine climates, and population numbers have long been in steady decline.

For four terrible days after an explosion on 19 November families clung to hope that 29 miners who were working the pit that day had survived. But a buildup of poisonous gases prevented rescuers entering. Public pressure to launch an underground rescue mission was intense, spurred by the astonishing rescue of 33 Chilean miners a few months before.