Newsletter 7th Issue LASER.qxp:Layout 1 - Marlow Navigation

7th Issue
Chilean Mine Collapse - 33 Survivors
Dec 2010
inside the main access tunnel of a mine in
Chile, it was reported that all 33 trapped
miners were alive and were receiving
emergency supplies through a bore hole.
But rescue workers had estimated that it
would have taken months till a two-foot
hole would have been drilled in the rock
to retrieve the miners.
Chile has a long tradition in mining, which
developed during the 20 th century and
made the country the world’s top
producer of copper. Since 2000, an
average of 34 people died every year in
mining accidents in Chile.
The 2010 mining accident occurred on
the 5 th of August 2010, when part of the
San Jose copper-gold mine near Copiapo
– Chile, collapsed, leaving 33 men trapped
deep below ground. The San Jose Mine is
about 45 kilometres (28 miles) north of
Copiapo, in northern Chile. The miners
were trapped at approx. 700 meters (2,300
ft) deep and about 5 kilometres (3 miles)
from the mine entrance. Considering that
the mine had a history of instability that
had led to previous accidents, the
prospects for rescue was as dark as the
collapsed mine.
Nearly three weeks after the incident
“Relatives of 33 trapped miners wait for news
outside the collapsed mine”
At the time of the accident it was not yet
clear what had caused the roof to collapse
but were investigating the matter.
On the 8 th of August, rescue workers
began drilling bore holes, about 6 inches
in diameter (15 centimeters), to locate
survivors, according to Reuters.
On the 22 nd of August, more than two
weeks after the initial collapse, the first
bore hole reached the survivors, all 33 of
them, who passed up a note, translated as:
28