San Jose Mines

• Stories of hope and hardship of 'Los 33'

  José Ojeda can barely sleep without the comfort of a miner nearby to confide in when dreams shake him awake. Omar Reygadas, a great-grandfather more used to comforting than being comforted, cries easily. And Edison Peña, the miner who kept himself grounded by running miles underground most days, was hospitalized last week for emotional distress.I...

• Miners' secrecy pact erodes in spotlight

  Family members of the 33 miners who were trapped for 69 days had said a special Mass on Sunday would be a chance for the miners to find closure and understanding. As one of them, Omar Reygadas, 56, left the service and walked with his family to the tent where they had lived while the men were trapped, cameramen and photographers surrounded him. His...

• Rewards for miners rescued in Chile

  The lucky ones now have more than $10,000 in the bank and a free vacation in Greece awaiting them. But for the moment, many of the family members of the 33 miners trapped under the hard volcanic rock here for more than two months seemed content to remain at Camp Hope on Thursday, tending to their tents and sweeping away the desert dust from their m...

• As Chile celebrates, mine's future in question

  Chileans reveled on Thursday in the stunning glory and jubilation of a record-setting mine rescue. As the celebration fades, however, several key questions await resolution.Officials at the copper and gold mine whose collapse trapped the 33 men for more than two months still have to answer why it was allowed to operate at all.Attention will also fo...

• All 33 miners pulled to safety in Chile

  Two months, nine days, and eight hours after their excruciating ordeal began, the last of the 33 miners trapped a half-mile underground in Chile was delivered safely to the earth's surface, capping perhaps the most dramatic survival story in mining history. (Pics)With the entire nation rapt and much of the world riveted, the last miner, Luis Urzua,...

• Fame to affect adjustments for miners

  The ordinary miners are long gone, left behind in another lifetime. The 33 men who are expected to emerge from Chile's San José Mine after more than two months trapped underground are now icons, national heroes, global media stars. And that mixed status -- celebrities as well as survivors, equal parts victors and victims -- will alter the usu...

• Chile rejoices as capsule brings 22 miners to freedom

  Each time the red, white and blue capsule rose smoothly out of the hole in the earth on Wednesday and another miner emerged safely, to applause and the waiting arms of his family, the scene replayed all around world with a joy that never seemed tired. (See Pics)By mid-afternoon here, the precarious operation to hoist to the surface 33 miners who we...

• Chileans hope to begin rescue of miners on Wednesday

  After more than two months trapped deep in a Chilean mine, 33 miners are enjoying Sunday tantalizingly close to rescue. Drillers have completed an escape shaft, and Chile's mining minister says a video inspection shows the hole's walls are firm enough to allow the men to be hoisted out as early as Wednesday.Officials said late Saturday that workers...

• Weekend rescue for Chile miners?

  Before 33 trapped Chilean miners can begin their passage to the outside world, still more people will join them down below to make their journey as smooth as it can be.These men -- an elite group of three paramedics with the Chilean navy's special forces and 13 rescue experts with the state-owned mining company Codelco -- will work in shifts during...

• Trapped Chilean miners feast on meat pies

  The survival of 33 miners trapped a half-mile underground and the government's unblinking effort to pull them out alive gave Chileans reason to be proud as they celebrated their nation's bicentennial Saturday."These 33 miner-heroes, with their iron will, their spirit, their fight, their strength, are an example to all of us of what it means to be C...