Drilling of rescue shaft beginning in Chile

Engineers were to begin drilling late yesterday a rescue shaft to 33 trapped Chilean miners, as loved ones sought to boost their morale for the gruelling months ahead.

The giant Strata 950 machine will bore a 33-centimetre pilot hole that must then be widened by a special drill bit. The drilling process is not expected to be complete until New Year or Christmas at the earliest.

Some of the workers, confined to a dark and dank underground world since a cave-in at the San Josè gold and silver mine on August 5, are already suffering skin problems and exhibiting signs of depression, officials say.

But their heroic tale of survival, which came to light on August 22 when a note scribbled in bold red letters was found tied to a drill probe, has captivated the nation and won them global fans.

Hope had all but been extinguished, but the miners managed to make 48 hours’ worth of emergency supplies last an astonishing 17 days and fashioned a canal by digging into the ground to give themselves a water supply.

“The shaft we’re drilling to the shelter will go down 702 metres in a straight line,” the engineer in charge of the rescue operation, André Sougarret, said.

Once the shaft has been widened to between 60 and 70 centimetres, it should be big enough to lower a rescue capsule down the cavity that will allow the miners to be pulled out one by one.

During the widening process, the trapped miners will have to work in shifts around the clock to clear rocks and debris constantly falling from above. They will also be hoping the precarious drilling doesn’t cause another collapse.

Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne has so far rejected reports that other plans are under consideration that could see the miners rescued in just one or two months.