A machine brought in from Australia to put out fires burning in the Pike River Coal mine came into operation overnight.
It is hoped that The GAG (Gorniczy Agregat Gasniczy) machine will put out the fires with the use of water vapour so teams can attempt to recover the bodies of
the 29 men from the West Coast mine.
There had been delays using the machine in the past two days because of difficulties in sealing the mine.
However, Pike River chief executive Peter Whittall said today the mine was sealed by about 10.30pm yesterday and the GAG unit had been up and running overnight.
``It'll be just a way to see how the air in the mine reacts -- every mine will be different, every situation will be different -- so it's been running now for nine hours now and we'll see how the day progresses with it,'' he said.
``We've got enough fuel and enough water for it to run continuously and we can keep on replenishing that and we'll just wait and see where the gases go through the mine.''
Superintendent Gary Knowles said the use of the GAG unit was a significant step forward.
``However, we are mindful that this is just a first step and we have a long way to go before the environment will be safe enough to send a recovery team into the mine.'' Mr Knowles said.
Once the mine atmosphere was inert, work would start to cool the temperature inside the mine to enable the recovery team to enter. That was likely to involve pumping nitrogen into the mine.
Police said they did not yet have an indication how long the cooling would take, but mine experts warned it would not be a quick process.
