Pike River Coal's "main man'' left the mine shortly before the November 2010 blasts after two unsatisfactory performance reviews, the Royal Commission of Inquiry has been told.
Former board chairman John Dow said the West Coast start-up mine was the "baby'' of former chief executive Gordon Ward.
Mr Ward, who has since moved to Australia and has refused to return to give evidence, was the "main man'', the architect of the project from pre-feasibility, Mr Dow said.
He had championed the permitting process, and it was very much "Gordon's baby''. He left two months before the disaster that killed 29 men. He was asked to return to give evidence but refused, prompted criticism from the victims' families. He cannot be compelled to return unless criminal charges are laid.
Mr Dow said the board had become increasingly concerned that production and financial goals set by Mr Ward were not being met.
"Insufficient steps were being taken by Mr Ward to deal with this shortfall in the company's performance.''
There was "over-pricing and under-delivering'' and he was possibly failing to recognise the impact of that on the market.
Mr Dow said he found that when Mr Ward asked his team on site for deadlines, he would report the more favourable ones to the board.
He did a comprehensive performance review of Mr Ward in June 2010, and during a follow-up of "unsatisfactory'' issues soon afterwards it became clear "we weren't making a lot of progress''.
"Mr Ward subsequently left the employment of Pike River Coal.''
Mr Dow also revealed that at an Australasian conference in August 2009 he was approached by Pike River contractor Les McCracken, who had expressed concerns about training and the cultural mix of staff.
Mr Dow then arranged for the mine to be independently audited.
"Not once'' did anyone else raise concerns, although his phone number was available.
He was surprised he had learned only now that safety manager Neville Rockhouse felt under-resourced, and was alleging that Peter Whittall, who replaced Mr Ward as chief executive, had an "autocratic'' management style.
Mr Dow disagreed with that, and said he had not known that Mr Rockhouse had twice resigned.
If resourcing was "bothering him to that extent'' it would have been easy enough for Mr Rockhouse to make the point to him.
Solid Energy chief executive Don Elder "never once'' expressed criticism of the Pike River Mine until the Royal Commission sat, despite the pair of them having a "strong professional relationship''.
The board had a subcommittee - the health, safety and environment group - and Mr Dow said he took the meetings seriously. They were collegial, and Mr Rockhouse could have raised concerns there too.
He said they were fortunate to have him as their health and safety manager.
When asked about outstanding risk assessments he had not previously been aware of, Mr Dow said the board had confidence in its "serious and experienced'' people on site to manage health and safety.
They relied on them to bring to the board's attention areas of non-compliance.
Risks raised in an external report for insurance purposes were operational matters, and not for the board. There was a "clear separation of church and state,'' he said.
New mine manager Doug White was on top of methane issues, which he reported was more of a nuisance at the last board meeting just days before the fatal explosion in November 2010.
- Greymouth Star
