1 MAY 2017

MEDIA RELEASE

RE: PIKE RIVER VIDEO FOOTAGE

The video footage shown by media in the last 24 hours shows two Mines Rescue members wearing compressed air breathing apparatus completing final tasks before a robot was sent into the main drift at the Pike River mine.

The Mines Rescue personnel are standing in the end of the 40-foot shipping container that was placed into the mine entrance as part of the initial sealing of the main drift in December 2010.

The video clearly shows the drift in the background. NZMRS personnel went no further than two (2) metres into the drift during this operation. The atmosphere in the entire length of the main drift had been made safe by pumping in Nitrogen and no methane was present.

In late June 2011 NZMRS were engaged to conduct a reconnaissance operation 300 metres into the main drift to select a suitable site to construct a temporary seal. The temporary seal was then constructed at the 170 metre mark. This work was also completed with nitrogen injected to prevent the build-up of methane. All of this has been previously reported and summarised during the Royal Commission of Inquiry.

At no stage have Mines Rescue personnel gone further than 300 metres into the drift.

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