The accident happened soon after sharp criticism of the government's handling of the Chilean earthquake and tsunami. Concerns that additional attempts to pursue this route would cause further geological movement halted attempts to reach the trapped miners through previously existing shafts, and other means to find the men were sought. After a second collapse on 7 August, rescuers were forced to use heavy machinery while trying to gain access via a ventilation shaft. Rescuers attempted to bypass the rockfall at the main entryway through alternative passages but found each route blocked by fallen rock or threatened by ongoing rock movement. Piñera holds the message sent by the miners alongside Mining Minister Golborne (red jacket, blue shirt) Wages at the San Jose Mine were around 20% higher than at other Chilean mines due to its poor safety record. However, smaller mines such as the one at Copiapó have generally lower safety standards. Although the accident has called mine safety in Chile into question, serious incidents at large mines are rare, particularly those owned by the state copper mining company, Codelco or by multinational companies. Ĭhilean copper mine workers are among the highest-paid miners in South America. If they had believed the workers, we would not be lamenting this now", said Gerardo Núñez, head of the union at a nearby Candelaria Norte mine. According to Javier Castillo, secretary of the trade union that represents San José's miners, the company's management operates "without listening to the voice of the workers when they say that there is danger or risk". Prior to the accident, CMSE had ignored warnings over unsafe working conditions in its mines. Due to budget constraints there were only three inspectors for the Atacama Region's 884 mines during the period leading up to the most recent collapse. The mine was shut down temporarily in 2007 when relatives of a miner killed in an accident sued the company but the mine reopened in 2008 despite non-compliance with regulations. According to an official with the non-profit Chilean Safety Association, ( Spanish: Asociación Chilena de Seguridad, also known as ACHS) eight workers died at the San José site between 19 while CMSE was fined 42 times between 20 for breaching safety regulations. The mine is owned by the San Esteban Mining Company, ( Spanish: Compañía Minera San Esteban abbreviated to CMSE), a company notorious for operating unsafe mines.
An average of 34 people per year since 2000 have died in mining accidents in Chile, with a high of 43 in 2008, according to figures from the state regulatory agency " National Geology and Mining Service" ( Spanish: Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería de Chile abbreviated to SERNAGEOMIN). The San José mine is approximately at the center of this satellite imageĬhile's long tradition in mining has made the country the world's top producer of copper.
Following three years of work, lawsuits and investigations into the collapse concluded in August 2013 with no charges filed.
#August 13 2010 gone home series#
Previous geological instability at the old mine and a long record of safety violations for the mine's owners, San Esteban Mining Company, had resulted in a series of fines and accidents, including eight deaths, during the dozen years leading up to this accident. Private donations covered one-third of the US$20 million cost of the rescue, with the rest coming from the mine owners and the government. With few exceptions, they were in good medical condition with no long-term physical effects anticipated. On 13 October 2010 the men were winched to the surface one at a time, in a specially built capsule, as an estimated 5.3 million people watched via video stream worldwide. Three separate drilling rig teams nearly every Chilean government ministry the United States' space agency, NASA and a dozen corporations from around the world cooperated in completing the rescue. Seventeen days after the accident, a note was found taped to a drill bit pulled back to the surface: "Estamos bien en el refugio los 33" ("We are well in the shelter, the 33 of us"). Īfter the state-owned mining company, Codelco, took over rescue efforts from the mine's owners, exploratory boreholes were drilled. Thirty-three men, trapped 700 meters (2,300 ft) underground and 5 kilometers (3 mi) from the mine's entrance via spiraling underground ramps, were rescued after 69 days. The 2010 Copiapó mining accident, also known then as the " Chilean mining accident", began on 5 August 2010, with a cave-in at the San José copper–gold mine, located in the Atacama Desert 45 kilometers (28 mi) north of the regional capital of Copiapó, in northern Chile.
0 kommentar(er)
