Government agency NZ Petroleum and Minerals recently signalled it intended to decline the permit application from Terra Firma Mining Ltd to reopen the mine for specialist silicon manufacturing, not thermal coal for burning.
Much of the infrastructure for the underground mine near Dunollie remains in place; it only closed when state-owned Solid Energy went under.
Terra Firma estimates reopening Spring Creek would generate $60 million a year, create 60 permanent jobs and add 3% to West Coast GDP.
When first approached for comment about the refusal from NZ Petroleum and Minerals, Mr O'Connor said the officials must have had good reason for declining.
He said on Friday he had since been updated on the situation, and had been told officials were seeking more information.
He supported thorough scrutiny of every application, given the outcome at Pike River, "particularly with underground mining".
Perhaps if more checks had been done with Pike River it would have ended up without a terrible tragedy, he said.
Mr O'Connor said he "expected the mine application assessment was thorough" and he would not interfere with the process.
Patrick Phelps of industry group Minerals West Coast said he understood Work Safe NZ had no objections to granting the minerals permit, although regulatory approvals and permissions from Work Safe would still be required under the Health and Safety at Work (Mining Operations and Quarrying Operations) Regulations 2016.
"This is a wholly separate process from the application for and granting of a commercial permit to the mineral resources under the Crown Minerals Act."
Mr Phelps said it was "a stretch" for Mr O'Connor to draw any link between Terra Firma's application for a mining permit for Spring Creek under the Crown Minerals Act, and the tragedy at Pike River in 2010.
The regulatory shortcomings and the actions of the owners and managers of Pike - which would not be legal under the current legislation that has been written in response to the disaster - did not mean all underground coalmining was unsafe, he said.
"No more so than the 14 preventable deaths at Cave Creek render all walkways, viewing platforms or bridges on public conservation land unsafe, or 257 deaths on Air New Zealand Flight 901 in 1979 render all flying unsafe."
All of these tragedies were thoroughly examined by Royal Commissions of Inquiry, which had led to vastly improved practices and laws that would hopefully prevent any such events happening again, Mr Phelps said.
Terra Firma management includes Craig Smith, who has a first-class coal mine manager's certificate (New Zealand and Queensland). He is registered as a mine incident controller with Work Safe NZ and is a member of the NZ Extractive Industry Advisory Group.
He appeared before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River Mine disaster to offer his expertise on hydro mining. Spring Creek, if it reopened, would not use hydro mining.
Terra Firma declined to comment on Mr O'Connor's comments.
The mining company is going back to the Government with further information in a last attempt.
