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In a final milestone for 2020, the Pike River reclamation operation has come near the end of the mine’s drift, nearly a year after the 170m barrier was breached.
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Recovery workers have reached the foam seal near the end of the 2.3 km tunnel. Source: 1 NEWS
Pike River Recovery Agency Operations Director Dinghy Pattinson said workers arrived last night at the “Rocsil Plug,” a remote vent plug made of foam, 2,244 meters above the mine’s drift.
The milestone, reached yesterday at 8:00 p.m., occurs 349 days after the dismantling of the 170-meter seal.
“We have now achieved another milestone … this is where we come this year as we close for Christmas today and restart on Tuesday, January 5, 2021,” said Pattinson.
Pike River mine re-entry team at the Rocsil Plug. Source: Supplied
A methane explosion occurred at the West Coast mine at 3.44pm on November 19, 2010, with 31 miners and contractors inside at the time.
Two men were able to leave the mine with moderate injuries, but the remaining 29 have never recovered.
The re-entry team is trying to recover the remains of the 29 men from the mine and evidence about the tragedy.
Next year will see the start of final forensic work in the outlet area. The team will also install a ventilation control device, effectively a wall with an airlock and doors. This gate will be located about 2,224 m above the drift, he said.
Once that device is in place, fresh air can be circulated to that point in drift.
Pattinson said that beyond that point, mine workers will wear breathing apparatus to get through the door of the airlock. There, workers would recover the last few meters to the roof drop and conduct final forensic searches of the drift.
The agency then planned to complete forensic search and recovery operations at “Pit Bottom in Stone”, a 600m tunnel network beginning around 1,885m through the mine’s drift tunnel. Mining infrastructure, including underground electrical substations, switchboards, sumps, pumps, and crushers, can be found here.
