2010 Copiapó mining accident 2010 Copiapó mining accident The 2010 Copiapó mining accident, also known then as the "Chilean mining accident", began on Thursday, 5 August 2010 with a cave-in at the San José copper–gold mine, located in the Atacama Desert north of the regional capital of Copiapó, in northern Chile. Thirty-three men, trapped underground and from the mine's entrance via spiraling underground ramps, were rescued after 69 days. After the state-owned mining company, Codelco, took over rescue efforts from the mine's owners, exploratory boreholes were drilled, and seventeen days after the accident a note was found taped to a drill bit pulled back
Pasta de Conchos mine disaster the miners were trapped. The National Mining and Metal Workers Union (SNTMMSRM) stated that the trapped miners were approximately below ground, via a mile-long horizontal shaft. Grupo México released a statement saying that the miners were about below ground when the explosion occurred. Guadalupe Rosales Martínez, the sister of a worker saved from the mine opening, told the "Los Angeles Times" that the workers had previously complained about a gas leak in the mine. Norma Vitela, the wife of a mine worker trapped inside the mine, told "The Miami Herald" that her husband complained about the same leak. By February