The initial payment follows the sale of Pike River Coal to the government’s Solid Energy last month.
NZOG expects further payments of up to $NZ2.5 million before 2013.
In addition, Solid Energy will pay a further $NZ25 million by instalments, commencing when extraction from the West Coast coal mining permit area over a consecutive 12-month period reaches 250,000 tonnes, or when total aggregate extraction over any period reaches 1.25 million tonnes, whichever occurs first.
Once that trigger date is reached, if due to the 250,000 tonne trigger, Solid Energy will pay $NZ2.5 million to NZOG, which was a 29.4% shareholder in the Pike River mine that closed in late 2010 after explosions caused the death of 29 men.
On each anniversary of the trigger date, until the deferred payment has been paid in full, Solid Energy will pay a further instalment based on the relevant coal extraction of the previous 12 months.
