The first of Chile’s 33 trapped miners may be free by Oct. 10, more than two months after a mine accident stranded the workers, an official aiding the rescue efforts said. The second of three rescue shafts being drilled has reached a depth of 520 meters (1,700 feet) after a drill bit was changed last night, said Eugenio Eguiguren, international vice president of Geotec Boyles Bros, which is drilling the hole.
The drill has another 102 meters to go before reaching the miners, who have been trapped since an Aug. 5 cave-in at the mine in northern Chile, he said.
The drill has another 102 meters to go before reaching the miners, who have been trapped since an Aug. 5 cave-in at the mine in northern Chile, he said.
Once the drilling rig breaks through 622 meters, which could happen as soon as Oct. 8, rescuers will send down a video camera to determine if the shaft is stable enough to pull out the workers without first casing the walls, Eguiguren said. Installing a casing would take three or four days, he said.
“The deeper it gets, the more complicated things become,” Eguiguren said today in a telephone interview from the company’s Santiago office. “Everything is going well. I think they’ll be getting out this Sunday or Monday.”
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said Oct. 4 the miners could be rescued before he starts a trip to Europe on Oct. 15. To contact the reporter on this story: Nathan Crooks in Santiago at ncrooks@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net.
Source; http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-06/trapped-chile-miners-may-be-free-by-weekend-after-two-month-rescue-effort.html
