Prime Minister John Key and Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee both visited the scene of the disaster over the weekend and expressed hope that engineers could draw on lessons from the unlikely rescue of 33 miners trapped underground for 69 days in Chile last month. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Chile's government both offered assistance.
A combination of poisonous gas and indications of a fire inside the mine so far have stopped any direct efforts by engineers to locate and extract the miners, who have been unreachable since an explosion was reported at 3:50 p.m. local time on Friday. Unlike in the Chile mine disaster, the New Zealand mine's shaft is sunk horizontally -- allowing access for heavy machinery that could assist a rescue -- but engineers are wary of a secondary explosion.
New Zealand's only listed coal mine operator, Pike River is about 29% owned by New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd., with India's Saurashtra World Holding Private Ltd. and Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd owning 5.5% and 7.1% respectively. Its shares traded in New Zealand closed down 4.4% on Friday and shares listed in Australia are suspended.
Pike River has missed several of its own production targets at the pit in the past 18 months and has been forced to raise additional funds to keep the mine working.
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