Radio New Zealand international reports there have been 15 fires this year on the conveyor belt at Kouaoua, which carries ore to the coast for shipping to the SLN smelter in Noumea.
The French High Commission earlier announced that it would station about 20 police around the mine.
The Kouaoua site, which provides more than a third of SLN's ore, was closed for nearly three months this year as a result of two blockades set up by a local group opposed to expanded mining.
The High Commission said the exasperation by Kouaoua residents and SLN employees was legitimate in the face of actions which nothing could justify, Radio New Zealand reported.
