Escarpment Mine, Denniston, Buller District, West Coast Region, South Island, New Zealand

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	41° 46' 25'' South , 171° 46' 59'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-41.77387,171.78322
Köppen climate type:	Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate

The first version of the Escarpment coal mine operated from 1964 to 1982, on the southern margins of the Denniston Plateau.

Perth (Western Australia) based Bathurst Resources Ltd proposed an open pit (cast) coal mine in the vicinity of the original mine in 2010. It had purchased the site from Christchurch based L & M Holdings. Bathurst later purchased the company, renaming it Buller Coal Ltd, with Bathurst itself moving its headquarters to Wellington.

The mine is sited in the Mount Rochfort Conservation Area. For the next three years the company was involved in legal battles with environmental groups, arguing the area contained rare plant, invertebrate and snail species, some recently discovered and new to science. The Environment Court approved mining in 2013.

Overburden was removed with mining due to begin early 2014, however in the meantime coal prices had fallen. The company had reported financial losses after spending $300 million, with job cuts, including the resignation of the managing director in 2015. The company removed itself from the New Zealand stock exchange, it stated as a cost cutting measure, although its share price had fallen to 0.03c. Its main customer, a Westport cement works closed.

In May 2016, the mine was placed on care and maintenance.

No minerals currently recorded for this locality.

Regional Geology

This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.

Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org

Rupelian - Ypresian 28.1 - 56 Ma ID: 1317357

Brunner Coal Measures (Mawheranui Group) Age: Paleogene (28.1 - 56 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Mawheranui Group; Brunner Coal Measures Description: Quartz sandstone and conglomerate carbonaceous shale and coal seams. Comments: Paleogene sedimentary rocks. Age based on absolute age calculated from stratigraphic age range Lithology: Major:: {sandstone},Minor:: {shale, coal seams} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13]

Eocene 33.9 - 56 Ma ID: 1311498

Brunner Coal Measures Age: Eocene (33.9 - 56 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Haerenga Supergroup; Brunner Coal Measures Description: Quartzose sandstone, conglomerate, carbonaceous mudstone and coal seams. Comments: Zealandia Megasequence Terrestrial and Shallow Marine Sedimentary Rocks (Paleogene to Cretaceous) Lithology: Sandstone, conglomerate, mudstone, coal Reference: Edbrooke, S.W., Heron, D.W., Forsyth, P.J., Jongens, R. (compilers). Geology Map of New Zealand 1:1 000 000. GNS Science Geological Map 2. [12]

Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

References

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