subject: 2 Months Underground: The Chilean Mine Timeline [print this page] The men, trapped in the Chilean copper mine since 5 August, could be rescued in the next few days according to reports despite previous predictions that the rescue operation could take a colossal 4 months. This article looks at the major developments during these stressful 2 months...
6th August 2010
Media reports of previous day mine collapse. Nothing has been heard of the 34 miners since the incident, but officials hope they have taken refuge in a nearby shelter.
9th August 2010
Rescue workers in Chile have been prevented by a new cave-in from reaching 33 miners (which changed from the original 34 believed to be) trapped underground. Rescuers drilling small shafts to provide oxygen, water and food have made some progress.
23rd August 2010
President Sebastian Pinera announced that all the miners were fine. Rescuers heard hammering noises when they sent a new probe into the mine. When the probe came back it had a note tied to it saying: "All 33 of us are fine in the shelter."
25th August 2010
It will take at least four months to rescue 33 miners trapped underground in Chile, the head of the rescue operation has said. They are said to be trapped 4.5 miles (7 km) inside the mine, in a space the size of a small flat.
26th August 2010
Glucose solutions, rehydration tablets and medicine have been sent down to the miners, and these were to be followed by high-protein, high-calorie foods similar to those designed for astronauts
27th August 2010
A newly-released video appears to show that 33 miners trapped deep underground in Chile are in good spirits. However, 5 of the workers are said to be suffering from depression. The video was taken with a camera lowered down a narrow bore-hole from the surface, some 700m (2,300ft) above.
28th August 2010
Engineers say widening an existing tunnel may reach the men in two months.
29th August 2010
Miners are able to speak to their loved ones for the first time. Families queued to use a special telephone cabin and were given one minute each to talk to the trapped men. Psychologists have urged family members making the calls to sound optimistic.
30th August 2010
A huge Australian-made "Strata 950" excavator began work late on Monday. The machine dug a narrow test hole, and will now drill down to the men, before widening the shaft to about 60cm.
4th September 2010
Scientists from the US space agency Nasa advise the trapped Chilean miners to exercise and regulate their day and night sleep patterns. Survivors of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes arrive at the San Jose mine to support the 33 men trapped underground.
12th September 2010
Miners are now allowed to smoke following improvements to the ventilation system.
14th September 2010
One of 33 men becomes a father for the third time after his wife gives birth to a girl named Esperanza, meaning hope.
15th September 2010
Chilean engineers say they may be able to free the 33 trapped in early November, some six weeks earlier than their previous estimate.
17th September 2010
Three types of drilling equipment were used in the drilling - two raise-bore machines, which drill a pilot hole before widening the shaft. And a third drill, normally used in the oil industry, which drills a wide shaft at the first instance.
The pilot hole for the first shaft, Plan A, started on 30 August - aiming for the shelter. Plan B, involving faster machinery, is aiming for a machine workshop a few hundred metres from the refuge and completed its pilot hole on this day.
19th September 2010
Rescuers trying to reach 33 miners trapped underground in Chile have begun using a third drill to dig an escape tunnel.
22nd September 2010
They're even being prepared for the media onslaught when they're finally rescued.
25th September 2010
A court in Chile freezes the assets of the company which owns the mine where 33 men have been trapped for 50 days.
26th September 2010
A 50cm (20in) wide cage arrives to pull the minors to safety.
30th September 2010
The BBC show what has been sent (though a 12cm borehole) to the minors, which includes; a signed Barcelona shirt, sandwiches, games consoles, toothpaste, pocket bibles, and letters.
1st October 2010
Chile's mines minister says there is an attempt to try to rescue 33 trapped miners will begin in the second half of October - earlier than previously predicted.
4th October 2010
Engineers state that the miners could be out by this weekend, as the rescue operation makes rapid progress.
6th October 2010
Apparently there is just over 100m to go before they break through to the men.
In conclusion, this has been a horrific two months for all the families involved we all hope that there is literally light at the end of the tunnel for these brave Chileans.
