Posted on 05/01/2006 10:52:33 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
A mining expert says the recovery operation at the Beaconsfield Gold mine in northern Tasmania is now reaching a highly technical phase.
The anxious wait is continuing at the mine as rescuers prepare to bore a 12-metre-long tunnel to reach trapped miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb.
After six days being trapped one kilometre underground, the two men are now receiving food, water and medication.
The body of their colleague, Larry Knight, was brought to the surface last Thursday.
Adelaide University Professor in Mining Geology Ian Plimer says at this stage of the rescue operation, extreme delicacy needs to be used in order not to exacerbate what is already a significant rockfall.
"They need to be monitoring the rocks that are de-stressing, the rocks that are moving and any changes in the shape of any bore hold they might put there has to be monitored," Professor Plimer said.
"Drilling holes is not a fast operation, extracting large volumes of rock is not a fast operation and the constant monitoring that is undertaken is really a very highly technical task with a lot of modelling associated with it."
Mine complaint
Tasmania's workplace safety watchdog says it received two complaints about the Beaconsfield mine over the past year.
Chief executive of Workplace Standards Don Schofield says the complaint was not about concerns over mining work linked to seismic activity.
"The complaints have been taken up with the company by Workplace Standards Tasmania and matters have been addressed," he said.
"What I can say is the matters that were in the complaint were not of seismic nature."
I pray that they surface alive. May God bless them.
The live blokes are in a cage under God-only-knows how many feet of rock.
The dead bloke, I gather, didn't make it to the cage.
How long do they think it will take?
At least another 48 hours!!!
Oh my gosh! Prayers going out that these miners will be rescued!
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