A sinkhole approximately 32 meters in diameter and roughly 200 meters deep opened up in the Atacama Desert of Chile, near the Alcaparrosa copper mine at the beginning of August 2022. Anytime something like this appears near a mine, there is the obvious question if the mining activities have something to do with the formation. It does appear to have the classic appearance of other large sinkholes formed by normal geologic processes of limestone dissolution. I can’t be sure, but from the photos, it appears that the structure is centered on some kind of channel that reroutes water around the mine facilities. One can imagine that even with the minimal rainfall in the Atacama Desert, the occasional flow in that channel could have been concentrated on the sinkhole area, perhaps playing a role in the final collapse. I would speculate that the actual formation of the sinkhole probably predates the mining activity.
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The Drillers, Rigs, Rock and Hart of the Chile Mine Rescue
As 33 trapped miners waited more than 2,000-ft underground for their rescue, a whole team of Chilean government officials, mining engineers, equipment manufacturers and of course drillers came together get the job done. Jeff Hart, a driller from Denver, Colorado was one of the stars of the day. Hart was in Afghanistan drilling deep water wells when he got the call and hopped on a plane. He works for Kansas-based Layne Christensen, and along with 3 other Layne employees, he manned the Schramm T130 drill rig that was part of “Plan B” that eventually became the shaft from which the trapped miners were rescued.
On the drilling platform overseeing the drilling was James Stefanic of Layne, and crew members Matt Staffel, Doug Reeves and Jorge Herrera. The rig and I presume some of the support equipment was owned by Layne’s Latin America affiliate, Geotec Boyles Bros, SA. The drill bits were from Center Rock, Inc. of Berlin, Pennsylvania. The Center Rock CEO, Brandon Fisher, was on site throughout the operation as well.
Read on for more info, photos, video and links on the drilling, drillers and geology of the Chile Mine rescue.
Layne Christensen Drillers Reach Trapped Miners in Chile
MISSION WOODS, Kan., Oct. 10, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — “Plan B” worked. Winning the three-way race to reach the 33 miners trapped in Chile since Aug. 5, drillers from Kansas City-based Layne Christensen Co. broke through at 8 a.m. Saturday.
[Editor] Click through for the rest of the press release. [/Editor] […]