But he said the company's focus was on "our Pike families" and said it had been "a pretty tough 24 hours, as you can imagine".
"We're still trying to come to grips with the emotion of the last few hours."
The company's board would meet today to make "a number of business decisions".
"There will be further reports on what this has all meant, the degree of impairment of the asset, if you like, and what options there are for Pike as a consequence."
Company chief executive Peter Whittall said other mines where explosions had occurred had reopened.
"I've worked in mines that have had explosions."
Asked if there would be miners prepared to go back into the mine, Mr Whittall said: "I would. And I guarantee all those men up there now would."
He believed there were "a whole bunch of people like myself that understand the risks, they understand the industry, they understand everything they do at work each day is for the safety of the place where they work and their workmates".
"And they'll see no reason they won't be able to go [back to work at the mine].
"Something has happened. I don't deny that. But the important thing is to understand what happened, put something in place to make sure that doesn't happen again.
"There's absolutely no reason why that mine or any other mine can't be safe after an absolute failure."
The 70 remaining workers at the Pike River Coal mine would be paid until the end of the year.
"We've told them they would be secured with their salary and wages at least through until the New Year. At this stage, that's the best we can say ... they all want to come to work," Mr Whittall said.
While some business people approached in Greymouth yesterday felt it was too early to be thinking of such things, others were quite open about their wider concerns.
Toyworld owner Joy Fairhall said the mine was extremely important to the town "simply because it gives all our people jobs".
"We haven't got a mine working now so there's 150-odd miners without a job. Simple as that."
She said the mine had been "very good" for the town.
"We would like to see the mine reopened but I don't know whether it will or not.
"Given the conditions down there with the gas, it's hard to say.
"I just hope they find [the miners] and things go right for the families."
The owner of a fish and chip shop, who did not want to be named, said the establishment of the mine over the past four years or so had brought a "huge number" of extra people into the town.
She said the town was resilient and would come through the difficulties it faced.
Staff of a paint shop wondered about the impact on the town as a mine workforce that had built up gradually over the past four years was suddenly out of work.
At a meeting on Wednesday, staff were told they would be paid until the new year at least.
Pike River chairman John Dow announced the company had set up a charitable trust and "kicked off" the fund with a $500,000 contribution.
Pike River's largest shareholder, NZ Oil and Gas, had also contributed $500,000.
"This has truly been a humbling experience for us. As you can imagine, no mining company sets out in life to have any of these kinds of things happening."
