Saturday, October 9, 2010

Health Minister of Chile, Jaime Mañalich, announced on Friday the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners trapped in San José Mine, Copiapó is to begin this Tuesday, October 12.

Mining Minister Laurence Golborne announced that the tunnel the miners will ascend “will be ready in the next 24 hours. [The tunnel] could be done by this night or tomorrow’s early morning.” However, he couldn’t “assure an hour because it is not exact.”

“The rescue will take place between three and eight days (after finishing the perforation), depending on the decisions that are taken about the encamisado (process of coating the tunnel with a metal pipe),” Golborne added. He also said the miners “have no anxiety,” saying that “they’ve waited a few months now for their rescue and are aware that they will have to wait some more days.”

The thirty-three miners have been trapped at the bottom of San José Mine, Copiapó, Atacama Region, Chile since August 5. It was discovered they were alive on August 22, when they sent the note “We are fine in the shelter the 33 [of us].”