Rescuers Ponder Faster Ways to Free Chile Miners

(Aug. 29) -- Mining engineers in Chile say they are working on a Plan B that could drastically speed up the rescue of 33 miners trapped deep underground. Officials, though, have warned against setting unrealistic expectations and asked the public not to raise their hopes of a quick rescue.

Walter Herrera, a quality control and risk manager with Chilean mining company GeoTech, told CNN that his firm was bringing a specialized machine -- a Scram T-130 drill, normally used for boring water holes -- to the San Jose mine. He said the drill could be on site and working within five to six days.

That device would be used to widen one of the three 2,200-ft boreholes already drilled by rescuers to deliver supplies to the men -- who were caught underground when the mine's main access shaft collapsed on Aug. 5. Herrera said that the drill could expand the shaft's 4-inch diameter to about 28 inches, which officials say is wide enough for the miners to pass through.

"I don't want to put a time frame on this," Herrera said. "We think it could be quicker than the other plan. In ideal conditions, this could take around two months." The engineer said that the government is currently studying his firm's proposal, Agence France-Presse reported.

The miners' families, who are camping out at the mine, rejoiced on hearing that they might be reunited with the men in the next 60 days. "We are very happy," Cristina Nunez, 26, whose husband, Claudio, is trapped underground, told Reuters. "Any possibility of bringing them out sooner is great news."

But later on Saturday, Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne told reporters gathered at the rescue site in northern Chile that the plan is just one of 10 different options currently being studied by the government. "The information is extremely clear, the time frame is ... between three and four months," he said, according to the BBC. "We cannot let our expectations get beyond what is reasonable," he added, noted CNN.

Golborne said that, for the moment, Geotech's drill would be used to widen one of the boreholes to around 12 inches in diameter, allowing rescuers to send larger supplies down to the workers. He said that he didn't know if the same drill could create a hole big enough for the miners to squeeze through.

Meanwhile, workers above ground are continuing with the original rescue plan, and are currently installing a 40-ton drilling machine called Strata 950 at the mine, which is expected to start boring a 2-ft wide tunnel down to the men on Monday. That shaft will likely take until Christmas to complete, making this the longest-ever mine rescue operation.

NASA said Friday that it is sending a four-man team -- including two physicians and a psychiatrist -- to Chile to offer guidance on how to keep the 33 men mentally and physically fit during their long wait underground. The U.S. space agency has a long history training people to cope with isolated and extreme environments, and thinks that experiences in space and underground are not too dissimilar, Michael Duncan, NASA's lead on the Chile effort, told CNN.

"It's an opportunity to us to bring the space-flight experience back down to the ground," said Duncan.