After 12-days trapped 1-kilometre below the surface in the Beaconsfield Gold Mine; miners Brian Webb and Todd Russell are only a few meteres (yards) from rescue.
The events leading-up to the collapse of the historical mine are being placed on hold until the two men are released from their prison. They are reported to have been working in a 'cherry-picker' cage at the time of the fall and were protected by the safety cage.
The body of a third miner, Larry Knight, was recovered in the area after a remote controlled loader was used to clear some of the fall. it took some several days to raise communications with the surviving men.
As an aside, well known Australian 60-min reporter, Richard Carelton, died today following a news brief on the current recovery operation.
Latest news is that the use of a 'Raise-drill' to bore a horizontal rescue shaft was partially successful. The boring was stopped when softer ground was encountered. Shortly after, Mine Rescue crews have encountered more hard-ground and have resorted to shot-firing to push the last few metres. This remains a current event. It is expected that the men will be released within the next day or so.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1628290.htm
http://news.google.com.au/news?q=Trapped+miners&hl=en&lr=&cr=countryAU&sa=X&oi=news&ct=title
Carelton: http://www.aijac.org.au/review/2001/264/carleton.html EDIT: In fairness, this is a bit biased so I feel obliged to add some comment of my own. Richard was a hard-headed journalist. He asked difficult questions and had a hide like a rhino. This link is only one of the many you could find associated with his name. Perhaps it's not the best, but you can get a flavour for him from the many like this.
Richard had a history of heart problems. It was reported that he was asking questions, of the mine manager in charge of the Beaconsfield mine rescue, about the safety history of the mine. This potential issue has been put on the back-burner by the union and all parties involved in the current rescue. As usual, Richard was pushing for the story without fear or favour. He died shrtly after leaving the press room.
lemons
The events leading-up to the collapse of the historical mine are being placed on hold until the two men are released from their prison. They are reported to have been working in a 'cherry-picker' cage at the time of the fall and were protected by the safety cage.
The body of a third miner, Larry Knight, was recovered in the area after a remote controlled loader was used to clear some of the fall. it took some several days to raise communications with the surviving men.
As an aside, well known Australian 60-min reporter, Richard Carelton, died today following a news brief on the current recovery operation.
Latest news is that the use of a 'Raise-drill' to bore a horizontal rescue shaft was partially successful. The boring was stopped when softer ground was encountered. Shortly after, Mine Rescue crews have encountered more hard-ground and have resorted to shot-firing to push the last few metres. This remains a current event. It is expected that the men will be released within the next day or so.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1628290.htm
http://news.google.com.au/news?q=Trapped+miners&hl=en&lr=&cr=countryAU&sa=X&oi=news&ct=title
Carelton: http://www.aijac.org.au/review/2001/264/carleton.html EDIT: In fairness, this is a bit biased so I feel obliged to add some comment of my own. Richard was a hard-headed journalist. He asked difficult questions and had a hide like a rhino. This link is only one of the many you could find associated with his name. Perhaps it's not the best, but you can get a flavour for him from the many like this.
Richard had a history of heart problems. It was reported that he was asking questions, of the mine manager in charge of the Beaconsfield mine rescue, about the safety history of the mine. This potential issue has been put on the back-burner by the union and all parties involved in the current rescue. As usual, Richard was pushing for the story without fear or favour. He died shrtly after leaving the press room.
lemons