A GAG unit at the Pike River mine appears to be working with early indications a fire is dissipating.

Much of NZ will come to a standstill today as the victims of the Pike River tragedy are remembered.

2010 can only described as an annus calamitosus [disastrous year] for the New Zealand family.

A jet engine brought in to make the Pike River mine safe is now in place. Rescue services are hopeful it will be in use tonight so the process to recover the remains of the 29 trapped miners can begin.

An Australian-based online mining journal today called for NZ police to be blocked from controlling mine rescues.

Prime Minister John Key has asked all New Zealanders to observe two minutes’ silence at 2pm tomorrow to remember the 29 men who lost their lives as the Pike River Official Remembrance Service begins in Greymouth.

Photos of the third and fourth explosions at the Pike River mine.

In the wake of the Pike River tragedy, PhD student Jesse Dykstra blogs on the mining industry and the associated risks

Hopes of recovering bodies are fast fading for families of the 29 miners lost in the Pike River mine.

An Australian expert was arriving in Greymouth tonight to provide advice on the jet engine GAG operation at the ill-fated Pike River Coal mine, where it's "highly likely" part of a coal seam has caught fire.

The chief executive of Pike River mine says the families of the 29 victims of the disaster are coming to terms with the fact they may not get their loved ones back, as recovery efforts continue to be hindered.

Volunteers have been working "frantically" to prepare for Thursday's remembrance service to honour the 29 men who lost their lives in the Pike River Coal mine

Funds are continuing to pour in for the families of the 29 victims of the Pike River mine tragedy.

Deployment of the "GAG" unit at the Pike River coal mine has been delayed after a fire at the entrance to the mine this morning. Rescuers are trying to extinguish a coal fire so the bodies of 29 trapped men can be recovered.

Nightmares about the 12 Queensland miners he could not save have haunted John Brady for more than 20 years.

Present and past Govt ministers are likely to come under scrutiny from the royal commission of inquiry into the Pike River mine tragedy.

Flames were last night shooting from the top of a 108m ventilation shaft at the Pike River coal mine - and only a couple of mountain peaks away a 43-year-old fire from the Strongman mine continues to billow smoke.

Families of the 29 men who died in the Pike River mine continue to be frustrated that the recovery of the bodies is still not underway as a massive fire, with flames shooting through a mine shaft, continues to burn.

The Royal Commission into the Pike River mine tragedy will be headed by High Court Judge Graham Panckhurst.

The Pike River Coal mine may have to be temporarily sealed after a fourth blast sent smoke and flames spewing from underground.

A royal commission of inquiry into the Pike River tragedy will look at causes of the blast and the initial response.