ALBUM - MOODY CREEK COAL MINE. (then and now).

About this image

DescriptionThe Huge Spring Creek Neighbour.
Seven Mile Creek Behind Runanga.
On the Rewanui Incline.
Simpson and Party first worked the seam in 1922. The lease was transferred to Wright and Party in 1944 and by 1947 coal of excellent quality was coming from a seam nearly three metres thick. In that period there were up to nine men underground and one on the surface. The mine was owned and operated in 1945 by the Moody Creek Co-Operative Coal Mining Party. In this year their mine manager James William Patterson (57) was killed in a fall of coal.
The mine was purchased by Todd Energy in 1986, producing 70 000 tonnes annually until it closed in 1999. In 2000 Moody Creek was then sold by the huge 1.9 Billion dollar Todd Corporation to a joint venture of Solid Energy and Todd Energy called "Greymouth Coal" but remained closed. The "Greymouth Coal" partnership developed the huge Spring Creek coal mine close to the old Moody Creek coal mine. The Spring Creek mine opened in 2000.
In 2002 Todd Energy sold its stake, leaving the state owned Solid Energy as the sole owner. After Todd's exit, the mine operated under Solid Energy, producing coal for export to Japanese steelmakers. However, the mine was notoriously plagued by difficult geology and financial write-downs, and operations were frequently suspended. Following a period of being mothballed in 2012, Solid Energy formally closed and sealed the Spring Creek site.
Finally in 2017 after the state owned coal miner went into receivership and was liquidated, all assets were eventually sold offMap^[1]ContributorTony Kokshoorn

Shown in this image

Location (city or town)MOODY CREEKLandmark (Place)MOODY CREEK COAL MINEOrganisation (eg business)MOODY CREEK COAL MINE

Category Information

Category Tagcoalmine

From Facebook

Date Created6th July 2026

OCR Text Transcription Edit Edit +-Close