More than 60 days after the 33 miners were trapped in Chile, a breakthrough to the stranded miners may be imminent. The Plan B drill only has 160 meters to go to reach the trapped men, but officials warn that this is the most dangerous phase of the operations, and not to get hopes up too soon.
Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne was somber in a press conference Saturday where he reiterated that there is no success story in this case until all the men are rescued. Despite the closeness of the drill to the trapped miners Golborne reinforced that, "We haven't rescued anyone here, we have to be very conservative, nothing is finished."
Officials expect the operation to be complete, with all the men above ground by October 15 or 30, if all goes well. However there is still a long way to go before the miners are safe and reunited with family members, who have been living in the makeshift ‘Camp Hope’ around the mine.
Debate is still ongoing as to whether the hole drilled to rescue the miners will need to be encased with steel or not. The first 100 meters, in which rock is broken will definitely need encasing, but officials will send a camera down the shaft once it is complete to check the integrity of the hole and assess the need for complete casing. If the whole shaft needs casing, this will add around 8 days to the rescue.
The miners are currently doing fitness training for the grueling climb out of the mine, some of them having lost over 20 pounds so that they can fit inside the rescue capsule.
