The first rescue hole wide enough to pull 33 workers trapped inside a Chilean mine for two months should reach the men on Saturday, a cabinet minister said Thursday.Mining Minister Laurence Golborne however did not commit to a date to rescue the miners, who will be pulled out one by one from the depths of a mine in a custom built cage.
"We expect to break through around Saturday," Golborne told reporters. He said that in the best case scenario it will take "two or three days" or in the worst case "eight to 10 days after the drill has reached the miners" for the men to be pulled out.
The shaft is dubbed "Plan B," one of three attempting to reach miners trapped 700 meters underground in northern Chile since August 5. The delay also will depend on engineers' assessment of soil and rock stability. They may opt to first insert giant metal tubes to reinforce the shaft, which could add up to one week to the operation.
In Santiago, Health Minister Jaime Manalich urged the public to be patient. "The fact that the T-130 drill reaches the miners, as will probably happen this weekend, does not mean that they will be immediately rescued," he told reporters.
"All the drilling gear on top has to be removed, cranes installed, and the final rescue equipment has to be set up. At least three or four more days will be needed, not counting the probable need of reinforcing all or part of the tunnel," he said. Manalich said that it was important to clearly explain this step-by-step process, especially to the trapped miners. "They are more relaxed and in control of the situation than we are on the surface," Manalich said, adding that he "deeply admired the maturity and manhood" of the miners.
Rescuers will use an Austrian-made hoisting system of pulleys and cranes to lower the rescue cage down the shaft and slowly extract the miners one at a time. Engineers said each trip will take from one to 1.5 hours, with the entire rescue lasting more than 24 hours. Should the miner hit a snag during the ascent, he will be able to lower himself slowly back down to the shelter with the help of wheels on the sides of the capsule. Each miner will be equipped with a helmet, gloves, bottled water, food, oxygen and a constant line of communication with rescuers on the surface.