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San Jose
Mine: Rescuers on Monday reinforced the hole drilled to bring 33 trapped miners
to safety and then successfully lowered a rescue capsule nearly all the way down
to where the men are trapped, showing the escape route works.
 A night view of the San Jose mine as the rescue operation continues for 33 miners trapped for over two months, near Copiapo, Chile, Monday, Oct. 11, 2010. The miners became trapped when the gold and copper mine collapsed on August 5 and are expected to be rescued starting late Tuesday or early Wednesday. That means that if all goes well, everything will be in place at midnight Tuesday to begin pulling the men out of their subterranean purgatory. Andre Sougarett, the rescue leader, said the empty capsule descended 610 metres, just 12 metres short of the shaft system where the miners have been trapped since an August 5 collapse.  "We didn't send it (all the
way) down because we could risk that someone will jump in," Mining Minister
Laurence Golborne told reporters. He called the 6 am test "very promising, very positive" and said the capsule, the biggest of three built by Chilean Navy engineers, "performed very well in the duct." "It didn't even raise any dust," he said.  The steel capsule was lowered by winch into the hole after its top 55 metres were encased in tubing, said Mr. Sougarett.  A torrent of emotions awaits the miners when they finally rejoin the outside world.  They've been invited to visit presidential palaces, take all-expense paid vacations and appear on countless TV shows.  |
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