|
Coal is New Zealand's primary energy asset. Coal provides New Zealand with security of energy supply, the ability to hedge the dry year risk created by the high level of hydro generation, and a cap on price of wholesale electricity and energy. In addition, New Zealand's premium grade bituminous coals find ready international markets. The properties of these coals include extremely low ash and sulphur contents, and very high swelling characteristics, making them suitable for use in the chemical and steel industries and valuable for blending.
The Ministry of Economic Development's (MED) Crown Minerals site is the best source of the latest facts and figures about coal production in New Zealand. But see also our Country Profile Page on this site.
New Zealand coal production in 2009 was 4.56 million tonnes, some 7% down on 2008. Of this production, some 2.09mt was bituminous and some 2.22Mt was sub-bituminous, approximately 0.26Mt was lignite. Approximately 3.73Mt was mined from opencast mines, the remaining 0.84Mt from underground mines. The drop in production was caused primarily by industrial action at New Zealand's two largest opencast mines.
Four underground and 18 opencast mines were operating in 2009. Solid Energy, owner of the two largest West Coast mines, was responsible for over 80% of the national production. Production is centred on the Waikato (1.75 million tonnes), the West Coast (2.24 million tonnes), and Otago/Southland (0.55 million tonnes). Over 55% of national production was from two large opencast operations, at Rotowaro and Stockton.
New Zealand's Reserves
Coal resources in New Zealand are estimated at over 15 billion tonnes, with 8.6 billion tonnes in the economically recoverable category. Eighty percent of that resource is in the low-grade lignite located in the Otago and Southland areas of the South Island.
There are 45 listed coal mines, with State-owned enterprise Solid Energy being the largest coal producer. Coal mines are located in the Waikato (servicing principally New Zealand Steel's Glenbrook mill as well as the Huntly power station and several major industrial customers), Otago/Southland (servicing mainly local industrial and domestic markets) and the West Coast (servicing mainly export markets).
Documentation of New Zealand coal geology, resources, properties and mining potential is held mainly by Crown Minerals which maintains a collection of about 1800 coal reports including the comprehensive exploration and mining studies carried out by the NZCRS. The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences and its predecessor organisations have published extensive accounts of coalfield geology. Some 10,000 drillhole records are held in a computerised database jointly owned by Crown Minerals and Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.
Coal Use
Coal is used in New Zealand to produce electricity, and as process energy in industry. In 2009, New Zealand consumed some 3.1Mt of coal, down significantly (27%) on 2008 due to reduced coal-fired generation at Huntly. Coal supplied around 4% of New Zealand's primary energy consumption. Depending on geography, coal as a source of process energy is significantly cheaper than alternatives such as gas, diesel or electricity. The biggest domestic users are the Glenbrook steel mill (.75Mt) and the Huntly power station (1.2Mt), and it is also used extensively in the dairy, cement, meat, timber, and health industries. Genesis Power's 1000 MW dual coal/gas plant at Huntly can supply up to 20% of New Zealand's electricity requirements.
In recent years of high electricity demand, there was insufficient coal supply from North Island mines for the Huntly power station and it proved economic to import sub-bituminous coals from a range of Indonesian mines. Approximately 0.7Mt of coal was imported for the year ended December 2009, this was 17% higher than in 2008 to allow for stockpiles to be replenished.
Exports of bituminous coal, produced entirely from the West Coast, was approximately 2.09Mt for the year ended December 2009. New Zealand coal is exported mainly to India and Japan, with smaller quantities going to Chile, South Africa, Brazil, China, USA, and Australia. Most exports are of coking coal, with smaller amounts of thermal and specialist coals. Solid Energy produces about 95% of exported coal currently, with, until recently, the remainder produced by Francis Mining from the Roa Mine.
Pike River Coal began production in 2009 to produce premium hard coking coal with low ash content - ideal for steel making. The first shipment of 20,000 tonnes was sent to India in February 2010.
Back to top
| 
