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Gas readings have been promising at the Pike River Coal mine since an Australian generator began pumping nitrogen into the mine yesterday to help cool the environment inside.

The Pike River mine will not be handed over to receivers while the operation to recover the bodies of the 29 workers continues, police say.

Peter Dunne has defended the timing of the announcement of eight job losses at the IRD in Greymouth.

Families of the 29 miners who died at Pike River Coal mine have been given a chance to spend Christmas near the bodies of their loved ones after police offered to take them to the mine on December 25.

A 20-tonne nitrogen generator has arrived to aid the operation to recover 29 bodies from Pike River Coal mine.

West Coast butcher Peter Lamont will spend a minimum of 14-and-a-half years behind bars after being imprisoned for life for murdering his wife Lindsay in their Ikamatua home last year.

As a new machine arrives to help recovery efforts at Pike River, receivers say they may not be able to claim a full $100m insurance payout to reimburse creditors of Pike River Coal.

Labour Leader Phil Goff has joined calls for the Government to fund the recovery of the bodies of 29 men trapped in the Pike River mine.

The Warriors and Newcastle Knights will play a charity match in Greymouth to raise funds - and spirits - on the West Coast.

Police hope to cap the vent shaft at Pike River mine tomorrow after weather conditions at the site prevented the operation from going ahead today.

The majority of miners remaining at Pike River Coal mine look set to lose their jobs, as officials today told workers they were going to proceed with redundancies three weeks after a series of explosions killed 29 workers inside the mine.