Police say an Australian man died and his colleague received serious spinal injuries when their car left the road near Greymouth on Monday morning.
The pair had just arrived in New Zealand to begin a training programme at a West Coast mine.
Police are yet to determine the cause of the crash but say frost and icy conditions could have been contributed.
The incident happened as a grit truck was preparing to cover the road near Taylorville at 8am on Monday.
Police say only one car was involved.
