New National Core Store

Amalgamation of the core stores arose from opportunities realised through the relocation of the Petroleum core store in response to capacity constraints at the former Wellington facility. It has now enabled Crown Minerals to address a number of facility issues at the regional stores and ensures the long term tenure of mineral and coal core. The entire content of all three regional stores has been relocated.

The 2,300 m² National Core Store has been equipped with a tailored shelving system suitable for the storage of both petroleum and minerals core as well as fit for purpose viewing facilities. By maximising the utilisation of floor space and stud height the new facility will ensure ongoing capacity for future growth. In addition the store is operated by professional storage experts and a project has been initiated to introduce a modern indexing and inventory management system. Enhancements will include an improved level of detail discoverable online in regard to individual samples held.

Companies exploring under permit for minerals and coal in New Zealand are required to offer core and samples collected during the process of drilling and sampling to Crown Minerals. Any material requested or accepted by the Crown is held in confidence for a period of up to five years before becoming available for any member of industry or the research community to access and sample.

New sample/viewing request forms and core submission forms for Petroleum, Minerals and Coal are avialable on the Crown Minerals website.

With the amalgamation into a central core facility, Crown Minerals will also look for pragmatic solutions to facilitate access wherever possible. Consideration to temporarily release core for local analysis will be taken on a case by case basis. Once a request is received to access mineral and coal core a member of Crown Minerals will be in contact to discuss a range of access options.