Chilean miners

[Jim Goose]

We can remember back to the guys trapped in the gold mine Tasmania all those years ago....

Imagine how these guys feel??

Seems progress is being made...

Drill reaches trapped Chile miners
Updated 5 hours 4 minutes ago


That hole will now have to be widened to 70 centimetres, with the miners themselves working to clear the tons of rubble from the excavation. (Reuters: Chilean Mining Ministry)

Related Story: Chile rescue drill stuck in shaft Related Story: Chile mine rescue ahead of schedule Related Story: Shaft to trapped miners could be drilled in days A drilling operation has reached 33 miners trapped in a Chile mine since early August, but the 630-metre deep hole now must be widened to bring the men out safely, a government official said.

The work still required to extract the miners was to take at least another six weeks, according to officials' estimates.

The government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a T-130 drilling machine had broken through to a work area in the tunnel where the miners were holed up, opening a 30-centimetre hole in the roof.

That hole will now have to be widened to 70 centimetres, with the miners themselves working to clear the tons of rubble from the excavation.

The T-130 drill was the second machine brought in to bore a hole to the miners.

The first drill, a slower Strata 950 hydraulic bore, has so far descended only 320 meters through the ground.

Another, much faster drill usually used on oil platforms, called a RIG-422, was being set up and expected to begin its work within days.

Whichever escape tunnel ends up being finished first, it will have to accommodate a special bullet-shaped capsule which will haul each of the miners to the surface.

The group - comprising 32 Chileans and one Bolivian - was trapped in the mine August 5 after a tunnel collapse.

The miners have survived underground longer than anyone on record.

They are being supplied with food, water, medicine and entertainment through three supply holes. The holes were also carrying communication lines to the surface, where family members were camped.

Friday's breakthrough came just ahead of Chile's weekend bicentennial independence celebrations which were certain to focus on the miners and their extraordinary ordeal.

Chilean energy minister Laurence Golborne, who has been overseeing the rescue operation, on Thursday said he expected the T-130 drill to reach the miners by the weekend.

He explained that the second phase of the machine's operation, after breaking through to the miners, was to have its drillbit replaced to grind a wider hole using the initial shaft as a guide.

That will "take several additional weeks," he said.

Rescue coordinator Rene Aguilar said on Wednesday that the best-case scenario was "reaching them by the first days of November."

On Chile's bicentennial independence celebrations Saturday, both the miners and their families were to raise the Chilean flag and sing the national anthem, according to Atacama region governor Ximena Matas.

President Sebastian Pinera will also visit the mine to celebrate to salute the men trapped underground and the rescue crews trying to save them, minister Golborne said.

- AFP

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...18/3015405.htm

One hope the outcome is good for them.... Id be stark raving mad by now... oops too late.

[pottery beige]

having done some time underground seen enough and know enough this is one epic tale of survival...

[xr6turbo2005]

will definantely be an epic tale. fingers crossed it all works out and they all arrive back up top.

[JK EX CHASER]

Hope all goes well for the guy's,I think all mines should have a safety hole a part of safety around the world.

[Scott]

Certainly is epic though I doubt the media is getting the real story of how the miners are coping. It seems a little too easy by reports.

Will be a scary ride out of there me thinks....

[Scaffy]

The company responsible is/has filed for bankruptcy and these guys and their families are without an income for the remainder of the time they are trapped down there.

The mine should never have been reopened either. It was shut down due to safety concerns. There are mineshafts and tunnels criss-crossing each other. A condition of reopening the mine was to dig a second tunnel to the work area, but the company's engineers said it was impossible. Yet the government still approved the reopening and now they don't want to take any responsibility.

[gtfpv]

lucky this has made media attention . in mexico nobody would know and the miners would be left to thier own fete .

[pottery beige]

here is a link to the book 'Bad Ground' a very good read about what went on in Tasmania touches on the old story how they should not have been where they were in the first place...
http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Ground-Ins.../dp/1741960053

[Jim Goose]

I do recall a few weeks later after their rescue that the union brought up various saftey breaches about the mine prior to the collapse...?

[3vXT]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

lucky this has made media attention . in mexico nobody would know and the miners would be left to thier own fete .

I'm no spelling nazi (I make too many mistakes myself) but that one made me lol a bit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%AAte

[Keepleft]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

lucky this has made media attention . in mexico nobody would know and the miners would be left to thier own fete .

Chile is no Mexico, it is somewhat more civil, more Euro-like. I like its armed forces:-)

[rodderz]

One of them is both dreading and looking foreward to getting out. His wife is up the top, and so is his mistress, whom his wife didnt know about