Pike River mine crisis: Five things you need to know (Day 4)

Prime Minister John Key is visiting Greymouth again today. Photo / NZPA

If you haven't got time to read all our in-depth coverage of the Pike River Mine disaster, here's a quick summary of five key things you need to know today:

1. Help from the Beehive

Prime Minister John Key was in Greymouth again today to support relatives and friends of the missing 29 miners. He took with him the Australian and British High Commissioners.

Yesterday, Mr Key met some of the families of the men missing since Friday's blast.

"They [the families] are feeling very vulnerable, fragile and scared, and that's totally understandable ... They are incredible in terms of controlling the anxiety.

"If I put myself in their shoes, I would be wanting to do whatever I possibly could to get someone in that mine, and that's what we want as well."

Mr Key said he supported the decision not to rush a rescue.

2 How will the rescue attempt proceed?

When tests show methane gas levels have subsided sufficiently to allow men to enter the mine, the rescue attempt will be underway.

However, it is no slight mission.

30 brave men are on standby waiting the word that they can go underground.

When they do, they face a march of 2.5km just to get to the first intersection of the criss-cross pattern of tunnels that interlace through the mountainside. They don't know what they'll find when they reach that juncture.

And they'll each be carrying about 25kg of gear.

"The logistics of deployment underground are quite vast," said Trevor Watt, general manager of NZ Mine Rescue.

3. Naming of the trapped men

At a meeting this morning, police gained approval from the families of the 29 miners to publicly release all their names.

Then, at a 10am media conference, Tasman District police area commander Superintendent Gary Knowles said the names of the miners would be posted on the police website.

The details are in this story.

The 29 comprise 24 New Zealanders, two Australians and two Scots and a South African. Many have already been named publicly.

Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn had called for all the names to be released.

"I'm all for disclosure of the names to avoid speculation. Everyone knows locally - it's not a secret and anyone could find out if they wanted to," he told NZPA, and the police agreed with this sentiment.

4. Company denies reneging on safety

As investors will know, Pike River coal mine has had a battle every step of the way, securing funding for their plans.

However, the coal mine board has rebutted allegations that money woes compromised safety at the mine.

Chairman John Dow told the Herald last night that the company had had adequate funding for all its activities, including safety.

"There has been no slackening in safety standards associated with our production activities."

Mr Dow said he was confident all safety precautions were in place in the mine at the time of the explosion.

The dual-listed company's shares remain on a trading halt on the NZX and ASX.

5. Showing your support online

Support and prayers have come from all corners of the globe, including from United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Our prayers are with the missing miners and their families after the November 19th explosion at the Pike River mine in New Zealand," Mrs Clinton said.

"Our Embassy in Wellington and Consulate General in Auckland are monitoring the situation closely and stand ready to provide technical assistance if necessary.

"I witnessed the courage and resilience of New Zealanders firsthand earlier this month, and it is my hope that all 29 men still inside are safe and will be rescued.

The easiest way to show your support and to see the messages from others is to check out the social networking websites.

If you are using Twitter, the "official" hashtag for finding tweets about the Pike River mine blast is #PikeRiver.

You can follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/nzherald and "like" us on Facebook at facebook.com/nzherald.co.nz.

And here's where you can have your message of support published on nzherald.co.nz.