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Official says Wednesday rescue likely in Chile
Source: Agencies |
October 10, 2010, Sunday
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CHILE'S mining minister said last night that the 33 miners trapped for more than two months will probably be pulled out starting Wednesday.
That's because the rescue team has decided to reinforce less than 315 feet (96 meters) of the rescue shaft in steel pipe.
The rest of the escape shaft is exposed rock, and the rescue team has decided it's strong enough to provide for a smooth ride for the miners' escape capsule.
Mining Minister Laurence Golborne set the date after the shaft was inspected with a video camera yesterday following the completion of the hole earlier in the day - a success that set off celebrations by the miners underground and by their families and rescue workers on the surface.
Golborne and other government officials have insisted that the decision on whether to reinforce the whole shaft would be purely technical, based on the evidence and the expertise of a team of eight geologists and mining engineers.
But the political consequences are inescapable. While engineers have said there is only a remote chance of something going wrong if the shaft remains unreinforced, Chile's success story would evaporate if a miner was to get fatally stuck for reasons that might have been avoided.
Reinforcing just the top of the shaft is a compromise that will protect the miners as their capsule passes through a curved section where the rock is fractured. It's also more technically feasible.
Golborne said work was beginning immediately to weld the pipes together.
That's because the rescue team has decided to reinforce less than 315 feet (96 meters) of the rescue shaft in steel pipe.
The rest of the escape shaft is exposed rock, and the rescue team has decided it's strong enough to provide for a smooth ride for the miners' escape capsule.
Mining Minister Laurence Golborne set the date after the shaft was inspected with a video camera yesterday following the completion of the hole earlier in the day - a success that set off celebrations by the miners underground and by their families and rescue workers on the surface.
Golborne and other government officials have insisted that the decision on whether to reinforce the whole shaft would be purely technical, based on the evidence and the expertise of a team of eight geologists and mining engineers.
But the political consequences are inescapable. While engineers have said there is only a remote chance of something going wrong if the shaft remains unreinforced, Chile's success story would evaporate if a miner was to get fatally stuck for reasons that might have been avoided.
Reinforcing just the top of the shaft is a compromise that will protect the miners as their capsule passes through a curved section where the rock is fractured. It's also more technically feasible.
Golborne said work was beginning immediately to weld the pipes together.
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