The Pike River Recovery Agency underground team recovered the fifth and last robot in July, but have since been pulled out. Video / Supplied
The chances of a recovery team finding human remains have gone from unlikely to possible in a critical area of the Pike River Mine.
The Pike River Recovery Agency (PRRA) is giving a briefing in Christchurch this afternoon after reaching a point called the pit bottom in stone area.
Thecrucial zone is about 300m from the roof rockfall face.
The PRRA operation, which went back underground in May last year, is looking to see whether it can recover the 29 men killed during the November 19, 2010 disaster.
Earlier this year, Pike River Recovery Minister Andrew Little approved a further $10.8m funding to complete the project - as well as a $4.2m contingency – meaning the total operation could end up costing $51m. Its original budget was $23m.