Speculation is rife over who has been charged with negligence at the Pike River mine as three unidentified parties face prosecution following the explosions that killed 29 workers.
The Department of Labour yesterday announced 25 charges alleging health and safety failures, with each charge carrying a maximum penalty of a $250,000 fine.
The charges were welcomed by some of the victims' families, but for others it is simply not enough.
"No matter what amount of money that these people [might face in fines], it doesn't bring my son back," said Dean Dunbar, whose son Joseph (17) died in the mine.
Several investigations are under way into the tragedy. They have all involved the company running the mine, mine manager Doug White and former chief executive Peter Whittall.
Mr Whittall, who worked as a miner for 30 years, took over as chief executive in October last year and became the public face of the disaster, fronting the daily press conferences and meetings with the families.
Before joining Pike River, Mr White had worked as deputy chief inspector of mines in Queensland.
The department said it was unable to name the three parties charged as they either had existing court suppression orders in their favour, or the right to apply for name suppression.
Identifying the specific charges could also lead to identification of the three parties, it said.
Grey Mayor Tony Kokshoorn said he was against any suppression.
There was already a "huge amount" of speculation about who was charged, and people not involved were getting caught up in it, he said.
The announcement of the charges comes just over a week before the first anniversary of the initial explosion.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry into the tragedy is to restart on Monday, with the latest phase exploring what happened at the mine last November.
