Drill Reaches Trapped Miners in Chile, but Risks Remain

Drill Reaches Trapped Miners in Chile, but Risks Remain
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO and HENRY FOUNTAIN
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: October 9, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/world/americas/10chile.html?_r=1&hp


SAN JOSÉ MINE, Chile — A drill reached the 33 miners trapped nearly a half a mile underground for more than two months, Chilean officials announced Saturday morning, setting off a celebration in this scorching desert. The powerful drill twisted and pounded its way through the abrasive volcanic rock to create a rescue hole for the miners to be hauled 624 meters to the desert surface. The schoolhouse bell began ringing at Camp Hope, the makeshift commune here where families have been living since the mining collapse on Aug. 5, and the large crowd watching the operation began chanting “Viva Chilean miners!” and singing the national anthem.

But the actual rescue is still likely to be days away and Chileans have been warned that the operation was entering its most dangerous phase. The bells were still ringing an hour later as mining officials started considering their next step: to what degree, if at all, should the rocky walls along the rescue route be reinforced. They had said that a decision would be made later Saturday.

“This is an important achievement,” Mining Minister Laurence Golborne told the Associated Press. “But we still haven’t rescued anybody. This rescue won’t be over until the last person below leaves this mine.”

Mr. Golborne, the mining minister whose ubiquity during the crisis has made him a household name in Chile, had said the rescue could begin as early as Tuesday. Lining the hole could set the schedule back further, but for some of the families waiting anxiously above, any delay in the name of safety is worthwhile.

“I prefer a thousand times that the process drags on two more days than to not line the hole,” said María Cortez, the sister-in-law of Mario Gómez, the oldest of the trapped miners. But lining the hole with tons of heavy steel pipes also presents a risk if they slip and fall, officials said.

Every decision carried a risk that the inspiring story consuming the Chilean government and captivating the world could quickly turn toward disaster.

“We have done everything that technology permits,” said Miguel Fortt, a consultant on underground mining rescues in the Atacama region, had said before the breakthrough. “If the Lord doesn’t send us an earthquake, we’ll be O.K.”

The miners themselves may have to set off dynamite to widen the hole at their end so that the rescue capsule — named the Phoenix — has enough room. Engineers at the surface also need to decide whether to line the rescue hole with steel pipes to prevent loose rocks from falling into the shaft and damaging or blocking the capsule.

But whatever the approach, it is going to be a very tight fit. The rescue hole is only a little more than two feet wide and it is not even straight, which could create potential snags as the capsule shimmies up, carrying one man at a time.

“There’s only about two inches clearance around it,” John E. Urosek, chief of mine emergency operations for the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration had said earlier. “And they’ll have to pull it out of that depth so many times, it could get wedged.”

Much of the uncertainty stems from how unusual the rescue effort is, turning it into a case study for experts around the world.

“The Chileans are really writing the book on this kind of rescue,” said Clint Cragg, an engineer who was part of a NASA delegation to the mine in September. “There haven’t been this many guys that deep for this long. It just hasn’t been done before.”

Medical officials continue to prepare the miners for their moment in the sun. They have been keeping their weight under control so they can fit in the capsule, which is about 21 inches wide and built with suggestions from the NASA team. The men are also receiving media training to answer questions from the hundreds of reporters here at Camp Hope, the makeshift commune here where families have been living since the collapse on Aug. 5.

Engineers are expected to send down a camera to evaluate the hole and begin the process of prepping the rescue and capsule teams. But before any of the miners come up, at least two rescuers will be sent down first, to stay in the mine and assist with the capsule.

Then there is the question of who is rescued first. The miners are being divided into three teams, Mr. Golborne said, depending on their physical and mental condition, and on their “skills.”

The first group to come up are likely to be the most talented and healthiest group, who will assist the rescuers at the top with the remainder of the operation. Among those will probably be Edison Peña, a fitness buff who has been running several kilometers a day inside the many winding tunnels still accessible to the trapped miners.

The second group will be the less physically fit, like Mr. Gómez, who has a lung condition and José Ojeda, who has diabetes. And then the rest will follow.

The trip in the Phoenix could take as little as 11 to 12 minutes, according to Manuel Montesino, the superintendent for production for Codelco, the state mining company. The miners will be on their feet inside the capsule, with a monitor to check their vital signs and a hands-free phone. Retractable rollers will also help prevent the capsule from hitting the walls of the mine shaft.

Once at the surface, the miners will receive wrap-around sunglass used by mountain climbers and surfers to protect against sudden exposure to the bright sun, and then be treated for first aid on site before being whisked by helicopters to a nearby hospital. Many of the miners have complained of dental pain and skin irritation that will require treatment when they emerge, officials said.

Rescuing the miners has become an obsession for President Sebastián Piñera and his government, which has spared no expense, technological consultation or innovation. Mr. Piñera’s approval rating has risen steadily since the miners were found after more than two weeks during which their fate was uncertain. And Mr. Golborne has become the most popular minister in the Piñera government, a recent opinion poll suggests.

Three efforts were organized to drill holes that could accommodate a rescue capsule. Known as Plans A, B, and C, they proceeded simultaneously. It was Plan B that reached the trapped men at a spot more than 2,050 feet below the surface — roughly twice as deep as the Empire State Building is tall.

But for many family members, with the uncertainty to come, the end still seemed far away.

“We are reaching the final chapter, but it feels like the first day,” Mrs. Cortez said. “We didn’t know if they were dead or alive, when we didn’t know anything and, just like now, we were filled with anxiety, sadness.”


Alexei Barrionuevo reported from the San José Mine, and Henry Fountain from New York. Pascale Bonnefoy contributed from Santiago, Chile.