Giant new drill joins Chile mine rescue

Engineers trying to rescue 33 miners trapped underground in Chile for more than six weeks have begun drilling a third escape tunnel.

Good news here..I hope they can really hurry..

source

gonna be a long boring wait for those poor miners stuck down there...

I personally would not be able to handle it..

good luck and godspeed!!

A huge drill borrowed from an oil company has joined two others digging through the 630m (2,060ft) of rock separating the miners from the surface. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera told the trapped men he was confident the rescue effort would succeed. His government has said it hopes to get them out by early November. Continue reading the main story Chile's Trapped Miners * Profiles: Trapped miners * Family's diary * Graphics: Rescue operation * Graphics: Underground refuge President Pinera, making his fifth visit to the San Jose mine, was accompanied by celebrated Chilean novelist Isabel Allende. In a video conference, he told the miners he hoped that on his next visit he would be meeting them above ground. "Today for the first time we have three machines working simultaneously. We do not know when they will reach them. But we know one thing: with the help of God, we will reach them," Mr Pinera said.

New machine

On Friday one rescue drill completed a 30cm (12in) shaft. But it will take several weeks to make it wide enough to get the men out.

The new drill is much more powerful, capable of cutting through up to 30m of rock a day.

If all goes well, it could be the first to complete a rescue tunnel.

The miners were trapped when the main access tunnel to the San Jose copper and gold mine near Copiapo collapsed on 5 August.

Relatives set up Camp Hope at the pithead when the men were found to be alive, 12 days after the collapse.

The 32 Chileans and one Bolivian have survived longer than any other group trapped underground.

Three bore holes have already reached the men to supply them with food, water and medicine.

reply to post by baddmove


I am sure they are kept busy to maintain their sanity.

Can you imagine what the first warmth of sunlight on your face would feel like after so long underground .

They will have to keep their spirits up , it easy enough to get depressed when the days are continually overcast ,as is the case here in the Northern hemisphere in winter.

So on that note ........

We`re sending our love down the well





I`m sure Bono would be up for it .....

reply to post by UmbraSumus


Not sure if i should thank you or slap you..

but thanks for the reply..i guess..

Originally posted by baddmove
reply to post by UmbraSumus

 

Not sure if i should thank you or slap you..

but thanks for the reply..i guess..

You are easily offended .

I guess .....

reply to post by UmbraSumus


Well..no i'm not...

It was just a really badd song/video to reply with ..

seeing how we are talking about many lives at stake here ..

and the possibility of some of the miners going stir crazy..

would you want to listen to that song down in that hole as a "pick me up"??

Hmmmmm???

hahaha, the guys are very comfy down there, they have an iPod with all and dock charged with their favourite music, PSPs, a 50" mini projector and optic fiber so they can even watch the soap operas they were watching before they got trapped, phones and high tech clothing... and a good diet too.

Without dangers of being wrong, I can say that if you put aside the fact of being under 300 mts of rock, they're enjoying life better there than in the outside (miners are poor people, I doubt that they even had an iPod on their hands before the accident). Yesterday they appeared on Tv singing the national anthem in HD, since it's our national holidays and we had a big show on TV yesterday that was broadcasted in every channel. They look absolutely normal, healthy and sane. chilean people is brave, and the poorer, the resilient. Some days ago I was kidding with a cab driver about a nuclear holocaust: the only survivors would be cockroaches, scorpions and chileans. C'mon, we were hit by a 8.8 earthquake last february and everything looks like if nothing had happen in the big cities (except maybe Concepcion, the most damaged city, that still shows some big damage)

Sorry, I'm full of patriotism today =(

Originally posted by baddmove


would you want to listen to that song down in that hole as a "pick me up"??

Hmmmmm???

You have never had a chuckle at a predicament you found yourself in .....?

It can be the best of tension relievers .

And to be far , i did preface my response on a more serious note .

reply to post by baddmove

good source here
source2

The 33 trapped miners - all Chileans except one miner from Bolivia - have a range of ages, background and experience. The oldest, Mario Gomez, 63, has worked in the mines since the age of 12 and was thinking of retiring in November. The youngest is 19-year-old Jimmy Sanchez, with only five months' experience. All in the same predicament now, and having been resupplied with food and medication as rescue efforts continue from above, the miners are trying to establish a normal routine. They have split into three groups - El Refugio, La Rampa and 105 - named after the shelter, the ramp and Level 105 sections of the 1km tunnel where they are trapped. Each group has a leader and carries out shifts, as they did before the accident on 5 August. Above ground, relatives await the videos and scrawled messages from their loved ones and send replies and creature comforts back down the supply pipe. More on This Story

reply to post by UmbraSumus


Yes you did..

and i thank you for that..