The receivers of Pike River Coal Ltd say they do not want police to give up control of the mine site, because the company does not have the money to continue the recovery operation.
Twenty-nine men died in a series of explosions which began at the mine near Greymouth on the West Coast on 19 November.
The company was put in receivership by PricewaterhouseCoopers on Monday.
Expensive machinery has been brought in from Australia to put out a fire burning underground and to make the mine safe to enter.
One of the receivers, John Fisk, says police are still in charge of the site and are still picking up the cost of a GAG machine being used to neutralise dangerous gas in the mine.
Mr Fisk says there will be a meeting next week to discuss how and when a handover will happen.
"There is a process that we'll need to go through to conclude just who will become responsible for the site and when.
"We do not want to become responsible for the site because of the liabilities that are attached to it that we don't have any funds to be able to pay."
The receivers say it could be six months to a year before there is any insurance payout.
