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Setbacks unnerve trapped miners
Source: Agencies |
September 15, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WHEN the drilling stops, the 33 miners who have been trapped underground for weeks in northern Chile notice. And they are not pleased about the progress above.
On Monday only one of three drilling efforts was operational - the so-called Plan A drill, which must soon stop for maintenance work.
The higher-velocity Plan B drill has been silenced since last week, when it struck an iron support beam for the mine and its drill bit shattered into small pieces.
A third drill, Plan C, is still days away from starting up.
Rescuers have already tried three times to use magnets to remove pieces of the shattered second drill and iron beam from the hole. If a fourth effort also fails, Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said Monday, the second drill will have to be moved and start digging an entirely new hole.
The setback has caused anxiety among the men trapped by a mine collapse.
In talks with their families, they demanded explanations from authorities, who have struggled to strike a balance between can-do optimism and the reality that the miners may remain stuck a half-mile below ground for months.
"We told them that we're thinking about staging a protest or some other pressure tactic if they don't show us more progress," said Maria Segovia, whose brother is trapped down below.
Pressure is growing for alternative solutions. But the rescue team on Monday quickly rejected a "plan D" proposed by Miguel Fort, the mining engineer who led the rescue effort immediately after the August 5 collapse.
Fort has asked for authorization to descend to the point where the main shaft collapsed and analyze its stability. If conditions are right, he suggested dynamiting a passage open.
His idea was rejected in part because large areas of the mine are thought to be too unstable.
On Monday only one of three drilling efforts was operational - the so-called Plan A drill, which must soon stop for maintenance work.
The higher-velocity Plan B drill has been silenced since last week, when it struck an iron support beam for the mine and its drill bit shattered into small pieces.
A third drill, Plan C, is still days away from starting up.
Rescuers have already tried three times to use magnets to remove pieces of the shattered second drill and iron beam from the hole. If a fourth effort also fails, Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said Monday, the second drill will have to be moved and start digging an entirely new hole.
The setback has caused anxiety among the men trapped by a mine collapse.
In talks with their families, they demanded explanations from authorities, who have struggled to strike a balance between can-do optimism and the reality that the miners may remain stuck a half-mile below ground for months.
"We told them that we're thinking about staging a protest or some other pressure tactic if they don't show us more progress," said Maria Segovia, whose brother is trapped down below.
Pressure is growing for alternative solutions. But the rescue team on Monday quickly rejected a "plan D" proposed by Miguel Fort, the mining engineer who led the rescue effort immediately after the August 5 collapse.
Fort has asked for authorization to descend to the point where the main shaft collapsed and analyze its stability. If conditions are right, he suggested dynamiting a passage open.
His idea was rejected in part because large areas of the mine are thought to be too unstable.
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