Solid had previously announced there was a small fire on a load haul dump as it drove out of the mine on the evening of April 29.

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union counsel Nigel Hampton QC asked Solid chief executive officer Don Elder whether the LHD was hauled out of the main drift and was stripped down in a workshop by the time an inspector had arrived.

However, Elder could not precisely recall if that happened.

“Given that it was in the main drift, then it would be very unlikely we would have left it there because clearly it would've obstructed production for the entire mine,” he said.

“There would be no reason for it to be left there.

“The typical procedure in the case of a situation like that is the vehicle would be locked out and unable to be used until such time as an incident had been logged, mine management had been notified and a preliminary investigation had been carried out including assessment of the risk around that vehicle at the time and around the risks associated with removing it.

“Once that had been done, if the risks were judged to be acceptable to withdraw that vehicle from the mine, then that would occur.”

Hampton’s cross-examination covered more recent incidents at the mine, which is not only close to Pike River but is also a hydro-mining operation.

The incidents included a high voltage cable flash from a shuttle car underground on May 6, and a similar flash incident from a continuous miner on June 19.

But the most serious incident Hampton raised was the frictional ignition incident on June 29.

He said the flame underground was described to be six feet high and four feet wide and resulted from a McConnell Dowell operator who had been cutting stone.

Elder said a major investigation was underway of that incident but the “vehicle” (probably a continuous miner) involved was deemed to be compliant from the company’s preliminary findings.

“But the water sprays may not have been adequately functioning at the time, which may well have been because they were clogged, I don't know, and that’s what our investigation is intended to find out,” he said.

Hampton frequently asked Elder whether an inspector attended the scene of each incident, which he could not confirm.

However, some of the CEO’s responses indicated that the inspectorate was not necessarily resourced to handle all investigations.

“Safety is the result of three things coming together – people, assets and processes,” he said.

“So I imagine in the inspectorate’s case it’s the same three things – [they] must have the right capable people who understand and are doing the right job

“They must have processes that require them and inform them to do that and they should have the assets available to them to do that which presumably includes financial resources and the ability to get to a site in a timely manner.

“I'm not able to comment on any of that but I think that the parallel outside and inside a mining company is actually pretty, pretty strong there.”

Solid has already signalled it is seeking to acquire the Pike River assets, which are part of an ongoing sales process.

Earlier in the day, Pike River lawyer Stacey Shortall accused Elder of trying to lower the sales price of the troubled mine.

Elder sharply rebuked the allegation and said his purpose for being at the hearings was to support the community and the commission.

“Twenty nine people are dead; there are 29 people that didn’t come back from the mine,” Elder said to the lawyer.

“That’s 29 very good reasons to present my evidence if it can assist the Commission to find the right answer.

“I take great offence at the implication of the reason I am here is to talk down the value of the Pike River assets. That’s already been done by the company, that’s been successfully achieved, that’s not why I'm here.”

Elder also highlighted the risks involved in hydro-mining, which can free up large quantities of gas when roofs collapse for the extraction of coal, further complicating the management of ventilation.

He further questioned Pike River’s hydro-mining production targets compared to what had been achieved at Spring Creek over recent years.

“The projection for this mine [Pike River] was 1.3 million tonnes per year or over its life, averaging I think around a million tonnes per year,” he said.

“We have never achieved over about 430,000 tonnes [per annum] at Spring Creek.

“The reason for that is in the West Coast mining conditions it’s really difficult to keep your development ahead of your extraction, so your hydraulic monitor sits round doing nothing a lot of the time.”