Pike River survivor Russell Smith got his first close up look at his loader since the mine exploded ten years ago.
The heavy piece of machinery was retrieved on Tuesday night but on Thursday the light of day revealed the rusty scars of the last ten years.
Russell says the loader has given him hope - it's in good condition, which could bode well for other evidence.
"It's very interesting to see the sort of state it's in, I thought it could've been mangled or whatever but it's no burn damage no nothing," Russell told Newshub.
"I think the rest of the evidence that's up there will be in good nick as well. "
Russell was blown off the loader in the blast and found face up. He was helped out of the mine by the only other survivor Daniel Rockhouse
"It blew my hat off and you instinctively had to duck behind something so it was that door," he said.
"So if I wasn't standing in the loader I may have been killed or I may have been tossed down the driveway a fair bit."
The recovery team spending days gathering forensic information at the 1600 meter mark up the drift before taking the loader out
Dinghy Pattinson from the Pike River Recovery Agency says it took hours of work.
"We only get one chance at this, you know if we don't get it right we can't go back tomorrow and re-do it and so we spent hours and hours a couple of days just doing the forensic work."
The loader is being kept away at a distance because it's now evidence in a police investigation. Any findings from the state of the loader could be used in a court of law.
The occasion is a major milestone for the families of the Pike 29. Widow Anna Osbourne says it's the start of something big.
"For us it's major," she said.
"We had to get that loader out so we could actually get in there and start the real nitty gritty stuff that's about to happen."
What lies ahead is complex and unknown, according to the chief executive of the Recovery Agency Dave Gawn.
"Up until just after the fourth explosion robots went in and there is video footage and it's publicly available," he said.
"All the way up to Russells loader and beyond that there is no footage, no understanding, no imagery whatsoever until you get up beyond the pit bottom and stone area so that's all brand new territory."
New territory that will take the brave miners deeper into the drift - and hopefully closer to finding out what happened for the mine to blow.
