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Chile studies ways to rescue miners faster
COPIAPO, Chile
Petroleumworld.com, Aug 30, 2010Chilean rescuers hope to begin as early as Sunday the months-long task of drilling a shaft to rescue 33 trapped miners, as officials draft an accelerated rescue plan.
President Sebastian Pinera is pressuring rescuers to get the miners out before September 18, the bicentennial anniversary of Chile's independence from Spanish colonial rule, local media reported.
"Plan B has already been designed," Health Minister Jaime Manalich said Saturday, saying that the plan would be announced soon.
Under current plans, an Australian-made hydraulic bore will drill a hole to reach the miners trapped 700 meters (2,300 feet) below the surface, a process that could take up to four months to complete.
Officials are also considering drilling where the main entrance ramp to the San Jose gold and silver mine collapsed on August 5, though some engineers fear the site remains unstable.
A third alternative being tabled suggests broadening an already existing shaft some 12 centimeters (5 inches) in diameter about 300 meters (985 feet) from the emergency shelter where the miners are huddled in hot and dank conditions.
According to Geotec, the company owning the drilling equipment, expanding that shaft could free the men in about two months, two whole months ahead of early estimates. The miners, who have access so several hundred meters (yards) of unblocked tunnel, can easily reach that rescue site.
"We can broaden the hole that is already there with the latest generation machines and using a wider diameter bore," Geotec manager Walter Herrera told reporters.
Herrera said government experts were studying his proposal.
But Mining Minister Laurence Golborne earlier rejected press reports that the miners would be rescued in 60 days.
"The information is extremely clear, the timeframe is... between three and four months," Golborne said in an interview with Radio Cooperativa network.
Golborne said Pinera asked him to look at all possible alternatives.
"We have reviewed 10 different options," he added. "Up to now there is no alternative... that would allow us to get them out in 30 days."
Meanwhile, work continues for the original rescue plans.
The operation's chief engineer, Andre Sougarret, said workers finished building the machine's platform on Friday and could begin drilling the shaft "between Sunday and Monday."
Once the machine is fully assembled and operational, engineers said it will take up to four months to reach the trapped miners.
The Australian bore drills at a maximum rate of 20 meters (66 feet) per day. The initial narrow shaft it will dig will have to be doubled in diameter to permit a man to pass through, Sougarret explained.
Rescuers contacted the miners through a narrow shaft a week ago and have been sending them fresh water, messages and supplies ever since.
Most of the miners were shown in good spirits in a video they sent to their families at the surface on Thursday after their three-week ordeal, but a handful of them appeared to be struggling psychologically.
But Manalich said five depressed miners were doing much better after receiving food, vitamins and communicating with friends and relatives, who sent them a video recording earlier Saturday.
Chilean authorities have already taken steps to boost the men's mental resilience for the ordeal that still lays ahead, notably by reaching out to organizations and individuals with experience in long isolation.
Four officials from the US space agency NASA were due to arrive Sunday or Monday in Chile to provide expertise, while submarine commanders in Chile's navy have already given advice.
Story from AFP
AFP 08/28/2010
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