Reddale valley

The Reddale Valley open cut coal mine on New Zealand's West Coast, in the Reefton coalfield, was developed by state owned New Zealand coal mining company, Solid Energy in early 2012, to ensue a continuous supply of sub-bituminous thermal coal to Solid Energy's larger industrial customers. Reefton coalfield coal has been highly valued for boilers because of its appropriate energy, ash and high reactivity features.

Contract to Operate the Reddale Valley Mine Awarded to Doug Hood
Mining Limited (DHML)
The Reddale Valley coal mine is located seven kilometres north east of the town of Reefton at the base of the Ferndale Valley. It is accessed by road between two former open cut and underground coal mines. In late 2011, Solid Energy New Zealand Limited announced it has awarded the contract to operate the Reddale Valley mine to Doug Hood Mining Limited (DHML). The contract was awarded for a period of 28 months starting in November, 2011 and finishing in February 2014 when the mine became owner operated by Solid Energy. DHML completed the contract with no lost time accidents occurring during its tenure, this achievement was noted by Solid Energy as being a 'great achievement.'

Reddale Valley Mine Began With 10 Employees in 2013
The Reddale Valley open cut coal mine that is operated as a conventional truck and shovel open cut mining operation began production with 10 personnel but in September 2013 this was increased to 16, when night shift was introduced to increase production. The mine began supplying Solid Energy's South Island customers with coal from early 2012. It is planned to produce a total of 140,000 tonnes of coal during its expected lifetime of around two to three years.

Reddale Valley Operation to Last Five Years
The Reddale Valley mine is located in an area of the Reefton coalfield that has been mined in past years. The older mine affected areas that had not been rehabilitated at the time of their closure are to be progressively remediated by Solid Energy over the lifetime of the Reddale Valley mine that, taking in mining and rehabilitation, is expected to last for five years.

Reddale Valley is Solid Energy's First new Mine for Many Years
Although the Reddale Valley mine is a relative small operation, going by Solid Energy's other coal mines, it is an important milestone in the history of the company in that it is the first to be opened by Solid Energy New Zealand Limited for many years.

Solid Energy operates coal mines in Waikato, the West Coast of the South Island and Southland. It exports coal from its mines to steelmakers and coke manufacturers throughout the world, as well as supplying industrial users of coal within New Zealand. It has an annual coal production of four million tonnes that is evenly split between thermal grades for electricity generation and industrial uses within New Zealand and metallurgical coal for export.

Solid Energy is the largest coal mining company in New Zealand. It was formed in 1987 from the former New Zealand government department, State Coal Mines. Seventy percent of its total coal production is used in steelmaking in both New Zealand and overseas.
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