At the very least 100 individuals are concerned in search operations on the world’s largest underground copper mine.
Rescue groups in Chile are trying to find 5 miners trapped after a partial collapse triggered by a tremor killed one colleague and halted operations on the world’s largest underground copper mine.
At the very least 100 individuals had been concerned within the perilous search effort, mentioned Andres Music, normal supervisor of El Teniente mine in Rancagua, some 100km (62 miles) south of Santiago.
“To this point, we have now not been in a position to talk with them. The tunnels are closed, they’re collapsed,” he informed reporters on Friday.
The miners had been working at a depth of greater than 900 metres when the collapse occurred. Their actual location has been pinpointed with specialised tools.
“We’ll do the whole lot that’s humanly potential to rescue the 5 trapped employees,” Maximo Pacheco, the president of Chile’s state-owned mining firm Codelco, informed a information convention on Friday afternoon.
“All of our expertise, all of our information, all of our vitality and all of our energy are devoted to this trigger and to seeing this by,” he added.
Codelco cancelled a presentation of its first-half monetary outcomes, set for Friday morning, because of the rescue efforts.
Momentary closure
Mining minister Aurora Williams earlier introduced the momentary cessation of exercise on the mine, which started working within the early 1900s and boasts greater than 4,500km (some 2,800 miles) of underground tunnels.
Final yr, El Teniente produced 356,000 tonnes of copper – practically 7 p.c of the overall for Chile.
The cave-in occurred after a “seismic occasion” on Thursday afternoon, of which the origin – pure or brought on by drilling – is just not but identified, in keeping with authorities. The tremor registered a magnitude of 4.2.
“It is among the largest occasions, if not the largest, that the El Teniente deposit has skilled in many years,” mentioned Music, including: “We’re making each effort to attempt to rescue these 5 miners.”
“The following 48 hours are essential,” the supervisor mentioned.
The search staff included a number of of the rescuers who participated in successfully surfacing 33 miners trapped in a mine for greater than two months within the Atacama Desert in 2010, attracting a whirlwind of worldwide media consideration.
Chile is the world’s largest copper producer, chargeable for practically 1 / 4 of worldwide provide with about 5.3 million tonnes in 2024. Its mining trade is among the most secure on the planet, with a loss of life price of 0.02 p.c final yr, in keeping with the Nationwide Geology and Mining Service of Chile.
It additionally lies within the seismically lively “Ring of Hearth” that surrounds the shores of the Pacific Ocean.