Solid Energy

Solid Energy's pilot briquetting plant south of Mataura is well on track to be completed by the middle of the year.

Record coal production and an after-tax profit increase of more than 50% by state-owned enterprise Solid Energy were overshadowed by expectations of a second-half trading downturn because of weakening international coal prices.

German investors have continued adding to their South Island farm portfolio, acquiring a 227ha property at Gore for $3.37 million.

Solid Energy's New Vale Mine, in Eastern Southland, is now using a new 63-tonne capacity truck and trailer that is the largest road vehicle in the country.

Solid Energy has made a deal with the Gore District Council to help pay for a study of the impact of large-scale lignite developments in Eastern Southland.

Delegates attending the influential Institute of Mining and Metallurgy conference in Queenstown were upbeat about New Zealand's prospects. Business reporter Simon Hartley wraps up the conference.

Coal miner Solid Energy - one of four state-owned enterprise energy companies National wants to partially float on the stock exchange - will deliver a total $50 million in dividends to the Government this year.

Thirty-one Solid Energy staff and contractors at the Stockton Mine on the West Coast tested positive for illegal drugs last month, it was revealed today.

A mining CEO has been accused of trying to drive down the value of Pike River mine by criticising its operation at the Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Domestic Ohai coal will be on sale again by mid-August, after Solid Energy found 50,000 tonnes of recoverable resource at its open-cast mine at Ohai, where it is rehabilitating earlier mining work.