On October 13, Chile commemorated National Mine Safety Day, in honor of the rescue of the 33 miners of the San José Mine. This date highlights the importance of safety in the mining industry and the commitment to “zero fatalities.” It is a day to remember and reflect on safety measures within our industry.
The August 5, 2010 a collapse occurred at the San José mine, marking an unprecedented challenge for Chile. That day, a rock column collapsed, trapping 33 miners approximately 700 meters underground. Two days later, another collapse blocked lower sections of the mine, further complicating access.
Given the urgency and the latent risk of further collapses, the Chilean government of the time requested the technical collaboration of Metaproject Group, a company specializing in Engineering and Risk Analysis, led by the Civil Mining Engineer and CEO, Dr. Manuel Viera Flores.
Modeling the Rescue: Using PrecisionTree Software
The team of Metaproject builded a probabilistic model using Palisade's PrecisionTree toolto compare different rescue alternatives and assess which one poses the least risk to the miners.
The approach was based on measuring risk as a function of different aspects:
• Decision tree construction: to identify all possible rescue options.
• Exposure: the length of time the miners would have to remain underground, including the rescue process. (It was estimated that up to 20 days without food was the maximum possible survival time.)
• Probability: the possibility of an additional hazardous event occurring (such as another cave-in or mechanical failure).
• Severity: the impact of an adverse event on the miners if it were to occur.
During the process, the key questions were:
• Are they alive?
Do they have food?
Where are they?
Do they have ventilation?
How long can they hold out until they find them?
The model calculated a probability of rescuing them alive of only 0.028%, which explains why the rescue was considered a historical epic worldwide.
Reflection and words by Manuel Viera
Reflecting on the event, our CEO stated that, in Chile, "the quality and value of our professionals were demonstrated throughout the world. Our accumulated experience should serve as a key to exporting Consulting Engineering, suppliers, and associated services. What are we missing? Better public policies and support programs to export services from Chilean companies to potential markets; this remains a great opportunity."
The rescue of the 33 miners marked a turning point in the history of Chilean engineering, demonstrating that the combination of technical analysis, precision, and collaborative work can save lives even in the most complex scenarios.
Today, in Metaproject we continue to apply that same rigor and commitment to every project, driving innovation, safety, and excellence in the mining and energy industries. We have ISO 31000-certified specialists with over 20 years of experience conducting Hazop and Bow-Tie workshops in the mining, energy, infrastructure, and petrochemical industries.
If you'd like to learn more about our work in project risk analysis and forensic engineering, we invite you to visit our website and/or contact us at contacto@metaprojectgroup.comYou can also review the paper developed by LUMIVERO to learn more about the process of creating and applying PrecisionTree to Metaproject's rescue efforts.
