'The mine is cursed'

Photo / Mark Mitchell

The mine has had so many unlucky incidents locals believe it is cursed, says ex-mine mechanic Shayne Gregg.

Gregg, 43, now runs a pub in the nearby town of Ikamatua where mine-workers regularly gather after shifts.

"Everything they've done has gone wrong," he said.

He shuddered at the thought of the trapped miners' conditions, coping in the clammy heat without a ventilator: "It's dark, it's wet, I don't know how those guys will be coping because when that ventilator is going it's like a gale, keeping the fresh air coming through."

The mine was overly bureaucratic and had become unpopular for hiring foreign-born workers including Australians and South Africans at high wages of $1000 per week, Gregg said.

"I would say they're too top-heavy with management. There is a boss for this and a boss for that [and we had] a lot of machinery, trying to fix it and they don't have a lot of staff."