Two activists have reached day four of their encampment in a coal bucket on Stockton Mine’s aerial ropeway. The two kilometre aerial ropeway carries coal down the hill from the Stockton open cast coal mine to Ngakawau, where it is transported by train to Lyttleton Port for export.

Rach and Tāmati have occupied an empty coal bucket since Monday morning. Zipline equipment was used to access the coal bucket, which is 250 metres from the nearest pylon and 80 metres above a forested gully. Bathurst Resources are not able to operate the ropeway while the pair remain in place.

Despite Tuesday’s torrential rain and high winds, the pair are committed to immobilising the mine’s infrastructure by remaining in the coal bucket.

The aerial ropeway can transport 289 tonnes of coal per hour [1], and carries approximately 1 million tonnes of coal out of the Stockon mine each year [2].

“If Bathurst does not halt plans to destroy the Denniston Plateau, people will interfere with their mining operations in every way possible.” says Rach.

“Bathurst's statement yesterday confirms our peaceful protest is working exactly as intended. By forcing them into expensive trucking operations and multiple risk assessments, we've demonstrated how easily their Denniston expansion plans could be disrupted”, says Rach.

“If the government’s response to the climate emergency is to fast-track destruction of the environment then the intensity of resistance will also escalate.”

The pair have not made it clear how long they expect to remain in place, and no attempts have yet been made to remove them. However the were visited by a chopper today.

Notes:

[1] https://www.bathurst.co.nz/assets/reports/19.-20161102-Acquisition-and-capital-raising.pdf

[2] https://bathurst.co.nz/assets/reports/Bathurst-AnnualReport-2024-Final-FA-DIGITAL.pdf

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