PERTH (miningweekly.com) – New Zealand’s largest coal miner, Solid Energy, would not re-enter the Pike River mine, and has taken the decision to surrender the mining permit over the project.

The Pike River mine was closed in 2010 following the explosion that claimed the lives of 29 workers.

Solid Energy purchased the asset in July of 2012 and entered into agreement with the government to set out responsibilities around recovering the bodies of those that were killed in the explosion.

However, after years of investigation, the State-owned miner has now concluded that the site could not be re-entered safely.

Solid Energy chairperson Pip Dunphy was quoted as saying that while the news would be disappointing to the affected families, the company had been unable to reach a level of confidence that any re-entry plan could adequately protect the lives of those who would undertake the work.

“Any further loss of life in this mine is unacceptable and any possibility of other families having to go through what the Pike families have suffered is not something our board can support,” Dunphy was quoted by local papers.

The New Zealand government on Thursday said that it accepted Solid Energy’s decision.

“We have listened to the Pike River families today. Understandably, they are disappointed by the news from Solid Energy, but they have also turned their mind to the future and accept that the Pike River mine is the final resting place for the 29 deceased men,” said Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges.

“We know this has been a very difficult decision for the families. They have been the very best advocates they could have been for the recovery of their men.”

Solid Energy would now need to work with the Department of Conservation and New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals around the smooth transition of the management of the site and an agreement around variation to the access agreement, Acting Conservation Minister for issues relating to Pike River, Nick Smith said.

Once the mining permit has been surrendered, the Department of Conservation would become the underlying landowner of the mine site.

The Pike River families group has presented the government a series of recommendations for the next steps following Solid Energy’s withdrawal from the drift recovery project, and Smith said that Ministers would be considering these recommendations and would work closely with the families to carry out their wishes for the future of the Pike River site.