They have been working at the mine site for the past week to remove the remainder of the 30m barrier before the several elements of dewatering infrastructure between the 30m and 170m barriers are also removed.
The process of removing the barrier, weirs, concrete blocks, gabion baskets and grizzlies is expected to take some weeks.
Simultaneously, the Pike River Recovery Agency is preparing its final gas management and ventilation plan, and full execution plan to submit to WorkSafe NZ about the end of August.
WorkSafe will then consider the plan and offer any recommendations or feedback before the agency proceeds to remove the 170m barrier and move into the drift proper.
Chief operating officer Dinghy Pattinson said a realistic timeframe for removing the 170m barrier was ''not before the end of September''.
