A manned re-entry of the Pike River mine may be attempted early next year, the minister responsible for Pike River re-entry, Andrew Little said.

Both Labour and NZ First campaigned during the election on the promise of re- entering the mine where 29 men died in the 2010 explosions.

Mr Little told the Three's AM show on Monday the entry would likely go ahead by April.

"I would be surprised if we can't make an entry, provided everything else lines up, by sometime in the early part of next year... March, April I say would be realistic," he said.

The previous National-led government had refused to send men into the mine, saying owner Solid Energy considered it too risky and had instead considered sending remote-controlled robots.

Mr Little said he hadn't discussed the feasibility of re-entry with the technical experts but from what he had read, the "probability was going-up".

"Certainly the preliminary reports I've seen from the families expert says this is totally achievable, a staged re-entry," he said.

Mr Little said he had been briefed on new information the robot the previous government had planned to send in to the mine for a unmanned re-entry hadn't even been built yet.

"So up till now, actually, there has been no plan," he said.

The families of the victims have for years campaigned for a re-entry of the mine believing there are bodies in the 2.3km drift, the tunnel that leads into the mine.

They also believe there is evidence in the draft of what caused the explosions.

Some of the families welcomed the new government earlier this month, with spokesman Bernie Monk saying he was "ecstatic".

"We've got a voice now and manned re-entry is going to happen," he said.