Two more robots recovered from Pike River mine

Thursday, 2 July 2020

This army Wheelbarrow Revolution MK8 robot was sent into the Pike River mine as part of a recovery operation before a second explosion happened in 2010. The robot was recovered from the mine’s drift this week.

Two more military robots have been recovered from the Pike River Mine drift about 10 years after they were sent inside.

Five robots were sent into the West Coast coal mine’s drift– or access tunnel – in the days and months after the November 2010 explosions that killed 29 men.

All the robots broke down and only one reached survivor Russell Smith's loader, which is 1900 metres into the tunnel.

The Pike River Recovery Agency is completing the $50 million task of re-entering and recovering any evidence or bodies that might be found in the 2.3-kilometre mine drift.

**READ MORE:

The third robot to be recovered from the Pike River Mine drift, which is the second army robot to be recovered, was found 944m up the Pike River Mine drift access tunnel.

* The machinery yet to come out of Pike River mine's drift

* Pike River Mine robot lost for 10 years finally recovered

Pike River Recovery Agency staff open and walk through doors at the 170m seal. (Video first published December 17, 2019)

* Police claim 'public interest' in keeping Pike River risk assessment a secret

A statement from the Pike River Recovery Agency on Thursday confirmed an army Wheelbarrow Revolution MK8 robot was recovered this week. It had been sent into the mine as part of a recovery operation before a second explosion occurred in 2010.

The robot is about 1 metre high, 65 centimetres wide and weighs 290 kilograms. It was found about 944m into the mine drift.

A second robot – which is about 1.3m tall, 1m wide, 2.4m long and weighed 1200kg – was found 953m up the drift on Tuesday. It was sent into the mine after the 2010 explosions and carried in a smaller robot that was sent further into the mine.

The smaller robot is expected to be found later this month.

The latest recoveries come just three weeks after the recovery of another military robot that was lost in the Pike River drift five days after the mine exploded.

All the recovered items have been handed to the police forensics team at Pike River.

ROBOTS AND VEHICLES IN THE MINE DRIFT:

1. About 530m into the drift – Robot from Western Australia Waterworks (recovered).

2. 748m – Army Robot 2 (recovered).

3. At 930m – Army Robot 1 (recovered).

4. At 1161m – Large Robot from Western Australia Waterworks (recovered).

5. At 1569m – Small Robot from Western Australia Waterworks.

6. At 1563m – Loader in tunnel (The one Russell Smith was driving).

7. At 1900m - Daniel Rockhouse's loader.