WorldWide Drilling Resource

19 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® OCTOBER 2015 A Mine Rescue to Remember Adapted from a News Release by Aries Industries, Inc. The five-year anniversary of the Copiapó mine rescue in Chile, has special significance for the employees of Aries Industries, Inc. in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Aries designed and built the video cam- era which was lowered into the ground, letting rescuers and fam- ilies know the miners were alive. The mi ne co l l apsed on August 5, 2010, trapping 33 miners a half-mile underground for 69 days. The rescue became international news as the world waited anxiously for word of their safety. On day 17, an exploratory drill broke through into the mine. The compact camera, designed by Aries, was lowered into the mine, recording video which revealed the miners were safe. As rescue teams worked to drill a new hole wide enough to extract the men, the miners recorded a 40-minute video, speaking to their families and thanking the rescue crews, as well as people around the world for their support. On October 14, 2010, all 33 men were brought safely to the surface by a winch- ing operation lasting nearly 24 hours. More than one billion people watched the res- cue of the miners on television. Editor’s note: The management and staff of WWDR would like to thank everyone involved with this rescue, including American Manufacturing; Center Rock, Inc.; Mincon; Schramm, as well as numerous other companies and countries which came together as a team to free these miners.