The sale of the Pike River coal mine on the West Coast is likely to be weeks away, as interested parties work through their respective due diligence on the company.
John Fisk, PricewaterhouseCoopers' receiver for Pike River, said yesterday there were "a number of international parties" interested in the mine but each had their own internal processes to follow, which would take longer than initially hoped.
"Therefore, we don't expect to be signing a sale agreement this side of Christmas," Mr Fisk said.
He expects the sale to include establishment of a trust fund to help oversee efforts to enter the main area of the mine and assist with recovery of any remains of the 29 men who died in a series of explosions in November last year.
Drilling of a borehole has started in preparation to inject a foaming chemical to create a seal at the rockfall at the top of the 2km-plus access tunnel, and could be complete by February, he said.
