Pike River Recovery Agency goes beyond mine's 170m seal

Tuesday, 17 December 2019

Pike River Recovery Agency staff open and walk through doors at the 170m seal. (Video first published December 17, 2019)

A team has stepped through the 170-metre barrier at the Pike River mine for the first time since 2011.

It is the latest step in a long $36 million project to re-enter the mine where 29 men died in a series of explosions in November 2010. The 30m seal was earlier removed and the 2.3-kilometre drift ventilated with fresh air.

Pike River Recovery Agency chief operating officer Dinghy Pattinson, who was part of the New Zealand Mines Rescue team that built the seal in 2011, said reopening the barrier was 'a long time coming'.

Pike River Recovery Agency chief operating officer Dinghy Pattinson opens the doors 170 metres into the mine's access tunnel.

'We've been going in and out of the drift up to the 170m barrier since May 21 but last time I was on the other side … I was part of the Mines Rescue team looking for where to put a wall – and that was back in 2011 – so today was pretty significant for me,' he said.

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A quick scan of the tunnel beyond the doors did not reveal anything unexpected, Pattinson says.

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Looking towards the 170m barrier from the Pike River mine drift.

The team checked for any hazards, inspected the state of the tunnel's roof and walls, and had a brief forensic scan of the area.

Pike River mum Sonya Rockhouse and survivor Russell Smith at the mine site as the Pike River Recovery Agency staff go beyond the 170m seal.

Pike River Recovery Agency staff breached the 170m seal on Tuesday, part of a long $36 million process to re-enter the West Coast mine.

The initial scan did not reveal anything unexpected, he said.

'We know we'll have to do some work on the roof and ribs as soon as we get the barrier out of the way in January, but it's looking pretty good.'

The agency used a cellphone approved for use in underground mining to take photos and videos of Pattinson opening the door on Tuesday.

Moving past the barrier marks the start of the next phase of the re-entry project, which will be to advance safely up the rest of the 2.3km drift, carrying out forensic examinations along the way. The team will progress up to 20m a day over the coming months.

'The project is event-driven rather than time-driven, and will be done safely. There are still significant unknowns,' Pattinson said.

WorkSafe approved the agency's plans to re-enter and recover the 2.3km drift two weeks ago.

'We've got a big job to undertake over coming months and we wanted to get through if it was safe to do so before our Christmas closedown.

'We'll shut and secure the door now for a couple of weeks – it will give us more time to monitor the underground environment – before starting to remove the barrier in the new year.'