Film About Trapped Miners Planned by Chilean Director

 It was just a matter of time. What a premise for a movie! 33 trapped miners underground for months with their individual stories and motivations. Wow! To make it even better, the director plans to donate the profits to finance the education of the miners' children.
     . . . June


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Chilean director to make film on trapped miners:

2010-09-08 08:40:00  SIFY News

Chilean director Rodrigo Ortuzar has announced that he is planning to make a film on the 33 miners trapped for a month in the country and that he will donate the profits to finance the education of the miners' children.

'All the money that is collected, all of it, not a percentage, all the money that is collected at the box office in Chile is going to go directly to a foundation that is going to be in charge of looking out for the education of the miners' children,' Ortuzar told Radio Cooperativa.

With the aim of 'observing to later recreate', Ortuzar is using two cameras to film the day to day activities at 'Camp Hope', set up by the families of the men trapped at the San Jose mine, some 830 km north of Santiago.

This weekend he will travel to the mine to discuss with the relatives of the miners about the project, which he has already discussed with writer Hernan Rivera Letelier.

The director said that the film, tentatively titled 'Los 33' (The 33), will focus more 'on the human side', although it will not exclude other angles, like for example the safety failings at the mine and 'how companies make stacks of money'.

'This is the first Chilean tragedy with a happy ending up to this point,' Ortuzar said.

Read on . . .

Chilean Miners Are Rebelling!

It's going to be a long haul underground if the men are already rebelling. According to the article below, they are not following orders and are rejecting food deliveries. I pray that they can get themselves working together before someone just goes off the deep end and hurts someone..
    . . . June


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Miners rebel against living restrictions
The Irish Times - Mon, Sep 06, 2010:JONATHAN FRANKLIN at the San Jose mine, Chile

THE CHILEAN miners trapped in a collapsed mine shaft are starting to rebel against restrictions imposed by their government as they enter their second month below ground.

Family members said the 33 men had protested that the government was censoring letters and restricting information to them during a video conference at the weekend. The miners have also shown increasing independence in recent days as they rejected one food delivery of peaches and continued to drive vehicles around the mine tunnels 700m below ground, disregarding orders not to do so. They are also increasingly vehement in their demands for wine and cigarettes.

Family members said the miners were angry because they had not received much mail. “He totally cursed me out, they are not sending the letters to him,” said the son of trapped miner Victor Zamora. “He is going to blow up down there.” “It is a big problem that they are not getting the letters,” said the nephew of miner Jose Ojeda. “They are very angry.”

Luis Urzua, the leader of the miners, told rescue officials on Saturday that failure to deliver the letters was a major cause of discontent among the trapped men.

Government officials told family members that only letters with positive messages will be delivered. But rescue officials promised to streamline the postal service and create a central log for letters sent and received.

Read On . . .

Unique challenge For Chilean Miners. Stay Slim For Rescue.

One challenge is that in order for the miners must fit through a rescue hole they must be no more than 45 inches around the waist. Exercise programs are in place for this. Also, NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez said that the space agency, with its long research on aiding astronauts isolated in space, could help the Chileans understand how to provide "psychological support for those trapped
   . .  June

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Chile faces unique challenge in maintaining miners  
Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010

: "COPIAPO, Chile -- In less than a week the 33 miners trapped under Chile's Atacama Desert will have been stuck underground longer than any others in memory - taxing authorities Thursday with unique challenges on coaxing them and their families through the ordeal.
A team of submarine commanders was called in for advice on close-quarters living. NASA is advising on 'life sciences' and giving the men a sense they control their own destinies. Exercise programs are in place so the miners are skinny enough to fit through a rescue hole.

Even a masseuse roams a makeshift camp for the miners' families, relieving tensions with a touch.

All in an effort to confront the unique challenges being faced by all involved to bring the miners out alive.

Extreme patience is seen with each new day that breaks over Camp Hope - where the families of the miners have erected tents, awaiting their loved ones - but there are high expectations for results.

Read More

Now Drilling Begins in The Chilean Mine Rescue

The brave men underground in the Chilean Mine Cave-in will have to have lots of patience and stamina to face the challenges ahead. The rescue efforts are starting up and could take months to complete, and keeping their spirits up in that time becomes a priority. More on those efforts in the article below.
   . . . June


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Drilling Begins in Chile Mine Rescue
Published: August 31, 2010  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

"SAN JOSE MINE, Chile (AP) -- The effort to save 33 Chilean men trapped deep in a mine is an unprecedented challenge, mining safety experts said Tuesday. It means months of drilling, then a harrowing three-hour trip in a cage up a narrow hole carved through solid rock.

If all of that is successful, the freed men will emerge from the earth and ''feel born again,'' said an American miner who was part of a group dramatically rescued in 2002 with similar techniques. But that rescue pulled men from a spot only one-tenth as deep."

''They're facing the most unusual rescue that has ever been dealt with,'' said Dave Feickert, director of KiaOra, a mine safety consulting firm in New Zealand that has worked to improve China's dangerous mines. ''Every one of these rescues presents challenging issues. But this one is unique.''

First, engineers must use a 31-ton drill to create a ''pilot'' hole from the floor of the Atacama Desert down 2,200 feet (700 meters) to the area in the San Jose mine where the men wait.

Then, the drill must be fitted with a larger bit to carve out a rescue chimney that will be about 26 inches (66 centimeters) wide -- a task that means guiding the drill through solid rock while keeping the drill rod from snapping or getting bogged down as it nears its target.

Finally, the men must be brought up one at a time inside a specially built cage -- a trip that will take three hours each. Just hauling the men up will itself -- if there are no problems -- take more than four days.

''Nothing of this magnitude has happened before; it's absolutely unheard of,'' said Alex Gryska, a mine rescue manager with the Canadian government.

Read More . . .

Trapped Chilean Miner Proposes To His Sweetheart

This is about as romantic as it gets! With the world watching, Esteban Rojes, buried deep underground in the collapsed Chilean mine, scribbled his proposal on a scrap of paper. “When I get out, let’s buy the dress and we’ll get married.”

Of course, the delighted bride-to-be- Jessica said "YES"
   . . . June

Trapped Chilean miner proposes to sweetheart
Mumbai Mirror: Posted On Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 04:23:35 AM
One of the 33 Chilean miners stuck deep underground awaiting rescue has popped the question to his childhood sweetheart in a handwritten note.


Romantic Esteban Rojas, 44, scribbled his proposal on a scrap of paper from where he is buried 700 metres underground.


In the note to Jessica Ganiez, he wrote: “When I get out, let’s buy the dress and we’ll get married.”


Trapped miners are receiving handwritten notes sent to them through three small bore holes.

On Sunday night, a delighted Jessica, 43, spoke of her joy at finally being asked to tie the knot after 25 years together. Speaking to Daily Mirror, she said: “I thought he was never going to ask me. We have talked about it before, but he never asked me. I think it is a good idea.”

She added: “I have tried to hint at it many times, but it never happened. He always said getting married is a once in a lifetime thing and he would ask me when the time is best. Obviously, what has happened has made him do it.”

The couple are registered civil partners but have never had a church wedding. Now Jessica has told friends and family she will set up a wedding gift register with a fridge and a cooker at the top of the list.

This week Jessica, who began dating Esteban in her teens, will get to speak him on the phone for the first time after a communication link was set up Sunday.

Read More