Chilean miner rescue imminent

Chilean president: Looking forward to imminent mine rescue

Yes, the Chilean president is looking forward to it. I'm sure the guys in the mine are, too.

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Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne told reporters Monday outside the mine that workers are hoping to initiate the rescue beginning late Tuesday night or early Wednesday.

Though it may come even sooner, Golborne said, "We're going to take all the time necessary to assure that the plans are adequate."

That decision was made after the rescue capsule, called Phoenix 1, was lowered to 610 meters (about 2,000 feet), 12 meters short of where the men are trapped, he said.

"It fit very well," he said. "Not even dust fell inside."

Asked why the capsule was not lowered all the way into the mine, Golborne joked, "We could not risk that somebody might jump in."

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They have to wait for some concrete to harden first, as it will serve as the base for the winch system.

Obviously, these guys were used to being underground for long periods of time before this, but working in a mine is far different from being trapped in one. They've also apparently made a vow to not speak about the first seventeen days after they were trapped. I assume there must have been some highly unpleasant "worst case scenario" type planning during that time period.

I hadn't heard that last bit, Zuul. Can't imagine how horrifying those first 17 days must have been. I can't wait for those guys to get out of there...I can almost physically feel the sense of freedom they will have, stepping out of that capsule.

Well, the first miner is nearly at the surface now...here's praying that the rest of this rescue effort goes smoothly.

Excellent news. I can't imagine how nauseatingly anxious he has to be riding up in that capsule all alone.

And...he's on the ground! Man, he looks happy, and so does everyone else. :)

I'll say he looked happy! I'm shocked by how healthy he looked, too. I know he was chosen to be first in part because of his good health, but the man sure didn't look nearly as bad as I was expected.

I thought he looked amazingly healthy, too. Hopefully, this ordeal hasn't taken too much of a toll on these guys. I hear they wanted the most physically/mentally healthy guy to go up first, though, in case anything went wrong with the capsule.

Now I can see why there were concerns about the miners needing to slim down to fit in the capsule. Despite being down there all this time, there are still a few big guys in there.

How amazing is it that we can see all this, live? Especially the camera underground that allows everyone to see them getting into the capsule. SO cool.

I know! The video technology has actually been really good for maintaining communications for these guys all around. I imagine it has to have played a huge part in keeping them sane. It has to have been like a little tether to the world for them.

That tube is scary, though, especially for that rescuer who went down. I can see getting in that thing to go up, but not so much to go down. God bless that guy.

Agreed. He is a very brave person, especially when you consider he was the first to go through the entire tunnel. If it was going to get stuck, it very well would have done so with him.

I'm watching this on regular CNN, and Larry King put it quite well when he said "Words fail."

Now this guy is happy.

It's too bad that I have, like, a life and things to do. I'd be up all night watching this if I could.

Yeah, I know. I had to force myself to walk away just to get my nightly glass of water, because I was worried I might miss something. Like...watching them test the capsule for the third time.

There's just a really good energy to a rescue and a happy ending, though. This has gone right in so many ways where it could have gone wrong.

It really has been an incredible story and its amazing that they are coming out so well.

Hopefully, they should be all out in a few days.

I guess we're up to eleven out now and no major health problems have been reported. Amazing. It's also going much faster than their original time estimates.

I heard they got the oldest Miner out now. He is 63. I'm trying to imagine what it will be like for the last person out. That will probably be freaky.

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The last to come out will be Luis Alberto Iribarren, 54. Like the captain of a sinking ship, the shift supervisor volunteered to stay behind until all his men were safe.

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Does anyone know why this mine had air, food and water for such a long period of time? This is day 69 now.

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Originally posted by What Exit?

Does anyone know why this mine had air, food and water for such a long period of time? This is day 69 now.

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The cave-in did not cut off the air supply totally and enough was able to seep through the cracks to keep the miners going.

They have built areas below ground for sleep and refreshments so they had some food and water to begin with. Once the pilot holes were bored, more supplies were passed down.

Chances are water would be seeping into the mine anyway.

Twelfth guy is up!

Jim, they had emergency supplies that were good for two or three days. They managed to make it last for the first seventeen. For extra water, they used a backhoe to dig for more. They could hear a drill approaching for several days and waited for it to break through, having written notes and gotten tape. Once the drill broke through, they taped the note on, which said that there were 33 of them and they were all alive. Food and supplies were then sent down in long, narrow tubes. They also apparently organized themselves into three groups: One was responsible for the supplies, one for security against further geological shifts, and one for health.

They did a remarkable job didn't they?

Yes, they did. Their teamwork and perseverance is just incredible. I'm not sure anyone on earth could have realistically done better in their situation.

They also had a borehole specifically for providing air.

So do they get backpay? :)

This is a rather...interesting point of view on the whole thing.

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All well and good. However, two months is not four months. Two months is not the epic, the incredible test of the human spirit that the experts had promised us....Because we are built to love the test of time, it's a bit disappointing that the miners are coming out so soon.

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Originally posted by Zuul

This is a rather...interesting point of view on the whole thing.

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All well and good. However, two months is not four months. Two months is not the epic, the incredible test of the human spirit that the experts had promised us....Because we are built to love the test of time, it's a bit disappointing that the miners are coming out so soon.

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wut

Apparently the douchebag is sad that this wasn't more dramatic.

And they're out.

There are still the 5 rescue workers, but all 33 miners are safely above ground.

The last guy, Luis Urzua, looks exhausted. It has to have been particularly hard for the guys who came up during daylight hours after having been down there for so long.

Has anyone heard any more about the dude whose wife AND mistress were waiting for him at the top? That should be interesting for him...

What I heard today was that he had been separated from his wife for some time and had moved in with his girlfriend, and that nobody was really all that surprised.

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Originally posted by fachverwirrt

What I heard today was that he had been separated from his wife for some time and had moved in with his girlfriend, and that nobody was really all that surprised.

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Well, that burst my bubble. :(


Great that they all got out safely.

And the terrible pun award goes to....


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So, it showed the power of prayer, eh?

Jeez. I just can't express how stupid I think that is.

It showed the power of human endeavor and technology. But it's too bad human endeavor and technology didn't stop the miners from being trapped in the first place.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad those guys are out safely.

The rescue is officially complete with the extraction of the last rescue worker.

The whole process went almost frighteningly smoothly. I kept expecting something to go wrong just because it all seemed to be going so well.

Well this is pretty darn cool. Awesome job by all.

The most amazing thing about the rescue is just how smooth it went, once they got started.

A few months ago, they were expecting they may be out by Christmas. Excellent job all round.

Yes, this really has been a triumph all around. The skills and planning abilities of the miners and everything that's been done topside just came together beautifully. Like vison said, it's really shown the power of human endeavor and technology. Hopefully this really will serve as a wake up call and mine safety will be taken more seriously in Chile now.

I have to admit, I worked with the TV on in the background showing live coverage as the first few miners were brought up - something I NEVER do. But it was a pretty amazing thing.

What I haven't understood throughout is the Chilean nationalism that almost immediately started when the world became gripped with this drama. Okay, NOW it may make a little sense, if it was Chilean spirit and technology that freed the miners. But long before the rescue effort was started, people were waving Chilean flags and generally celebrating Chile. Huh?

It seems especially strange given that it was a Chilean mining company with a dodgy safety record that set in motion the chain of events that caused them to be trapped in the first place. (And according to news accounts, the Chilean president is a rather reactionary, pro-business millionaire who thinks government regulation of free enterprise is usually wrong.)

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