Drilling advances rapidly at Chilean mine

Rescuers digging to reach the 33 miners trapped underground in Chile for almost two months said on Wednesday that the men could be out sooner than thought, after one of their drills cut through 50 metres of rock in just 24 hours.

Photo: Reuters

Relatives of the miners, who have been camped out at the San Jose mine since the men were trapped by a rock fall on 5 August, cheered when the progress was announced.

At this rate the men could see the light of day by the middle of October.

However the government is wary not to raise families’ hopes and warns that they could yet run into problems, possibly taking until early November to get them out.

It was previously thought that the miners would not be rescued until December.

One of the three drills digging rescue shafts - the T-130 - has now penetrated 300 metres of the 630 metres of rock separating the miners from the surface.

Painted in Chile's national colours of white, blue and red, the rescue capsule dubbed "Phoenix" is ready and waiting.

The long and narrow transporter built by the country’s Navy especially for the task will carry the miners upwards to the surface, much like the phoenix of ancient mythology who rose from the ashes to be born anew.