Compañía Minera San Esteban Primera workers at this mine were paid around 20% higher wages than at other Chilean mines, due to its poor safety record. The San José Mine is located 45 kilometers northwest of Copiapó. It began operations in 1889. In 1957, Jorge Kemeny Letay, a Hungarian immigrant founded the San Esteban Mining Company (). The San José Mine () is a small copper-gold mine located near Copiapó, Atacama Region, Chile. The mine was the site of a 2010 collapse which trapped 33 miners underground. Its workings are reached by a long sloping roadway with many spiral turns (a diagram shows ten turns),
Ermenek mine accident On October 30, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız stated that this operation was being hampered by mud and damage within the mine. An official from the mine, which is privately owned, said the chances of the trapped miners making it to safety were slim unless they had been able to reach a safety gallery. Two of the miners' bodies have been located. On November 9, Yıldız said that arrest warrants for eight people had been issued, including the owner of the mine. Ermenek mine accident On October 28, 2014, 18 miners were trapped underground in the Has Sekerler mine, a coal