Hydraulic coal mining developments in New Zealand

Hydraulic transport of coal has been used for many years on the West Coast of New Zealand to extract small blocks of steeply dipping coal. Recent development at Strongman 2 Mine has seen the use of high pressure monitors to cut coal and a corresponding increase in the scale of production. This paper provides a brief introduction to hydraulic mining, describes the present system used at Strongman 2 and discusses future potential development.