Solid rock slows efforts to reach trapped miners
The mood was sombre but determined at Beaconsfield Gold Mine, as explosive specialists set small charges in an attempt to cut through the final yards of rock and free Brant Webb, 37 and Todd Russell, 34.
“These are incredibly difficult conditions,” said mine manager Matthew Gill, as teams worked round the clock in cramped conditions and 30C (86F) heat to reach the pair.
“Miners report that we are dealing with some of the hardest rock they have ever worked with, up to five times harder than concrete,” he added.
The men, both married fathers of three children, have been entombed in a tiny steel cage deep inside the mine since an earthquake caused a rockfall on April 25.
Over the past week, rescuers have bored through more than 45ft of rock using a giant drilling machine in an effort to reach the men.
But cutting the final stage of the escape tunnel has been slow and arduous work, as miners have switched to hand tools in order to avoid causing a cave-in.
Bill Shorten, a union official, said using jackhammers was proving futile, like “throwing Kleenex at rock,” and teams were now using an ounce of explosive at a time to try to break up the rock.
Measuring progress now in millimetres, officials said the miners must cut through another three and a half feet of rock before they can begin tunnelling a similar distance vertically into the cavity where Webb and Russell have survived for more than 270 hours.
“I know that no one in this rescue has given up a millimetre of hope,” Shorten said. “These two men down there are not going to be defeated … This is sheer muscle and willpower against rock.”
Officials declined to set a timeline for freeing the men, but Gill said it was “unlikely” the tunnel would be completed today.
He said the pair were in “reasonable health” considering their ordeal.
“It is not known how much longer this will take. Work is proceeding steadily and safety remains a key concern,” Gill added.
Webb and Russell have been trapped since a 2.1 magnitude earthquake sent tremors through the century-old mine in the southern state of Tasmania and caused a rockfall that killed their colleague, Larry Knight, 44.
His body was recovered two days later, but the family has delayed the funeral until the rescue mission is over.
Suffering little more than scratches, they survived for five days on a single cereal bar and by licking water seeping through the rocks around them.
Rescuers discovered they were alive last Sunday when a thermal imaging camera picked up their body heat, and on Monday began passing them food and water through a narrow pipe forced through the rubble and rock.
Paramedics, who are in contact with the pair through an intercom system pushed through the pipe, said they remained in good spirits and understood the delay.
“They have been fine with it. They are miners, they know what it is like. They know what the circumstances are, and they know it is an unpredictable exercise,” said Wolfgang Rechberger of the Tasmania state Ambulance Service.
The mood in the town of 1,500 people has changed from celebration last night when officials believed the men’s freedom was just hours away, to frustration.
