The Beaconsfield Mine Disaster

Disaster strikes Tuesday April 25. 9.23pm: An earthquake measuring 2.1 on the Richter scale triggers a rockfall 925 meters below ground at Beaconsfield Gold Mine, 40 kilometers north-west of Launceston. More than 100 tonnes of rock are displaced. Seventeen miners are in the mine when the rockafall occurs. Fourteen of the 17 manage to hide in safety chambers befire escaping to the surface unhurt. Three men, Brant Webb, 37, of Beauty Point, Larry Knight, 44, of Youngtown in Launceston and Todd Russell, 34, of Beaconsfield do not have access to the rescue chamber. Rescuers believe that if the trapped miners survived the rockfall they would have enough oxygen to survive several days. Rescue efforts commence.

Ramping up the rescue Wednesday April 26. 4.45pm: A remote-controlled heavy earth-moving loader fitted with two cameras begins work in first rockfall area.

9.15pm: The loader begins digging through layers of rock in the area of the first rock, 925 meters below the surface. Night falls with no sign of life.

A rescue crew approaches Beaconsfield Gold Mine with remote camera equipment. Photo: The Examiner

One Casualty confirmed Thursday April 27. 1.50am: Loader removes a Nissan Patrol blocking access to the rockfall. 2.30am: The first if the two known rockfalls in the mine is cleared. 7am: The loader begins clearing rock from the area of the second rockfall, where the three men were last seen. 7.22am: The body of Larry Knight is found. The search continues for the other miners, with crews planning a horizontal tunnel to reach the missing men.

The mine shaft at Beaconsfield. Photo: Peter Mathew

New efforts to reach missing two Friday April 28. Crews began blasting the first stage of a new tunnel they hoped would take them to where three miners were trapped by rock falls on Tuesday night.

Fire brigade and mine workers at entrance to the mine shaft. Photo: Phillip Biggs

New Tunnel goes deeper Saturday April 29. 6am: Workers descend into the mine to begin a 12-hour shift in an effort to reach the trapped men. They tunnel seven meters by mid afternoon.

Friends to the trapped miners, Victori Kidd and her daughter Josephine, bring flowers to the mine in a gesture of support. Photo: Janie Barrett

Alive! Sunday April 30. 5.45pm: Rescuers make contact with Todd Russell and Brant Webb through a microphone pushed into the area. Mr Webb and Mr Russell are safe inside a 1.2 metre x 1.2 metre cherry picker cage but trapped beneath a large slab of rock. Todd Russell’s first reported words are: “It’s f---ing cold and cramped in here. Get us out!” 7.30pm: Mining company Beaconsfield Gold announces the men are alive but rescuers say it will take at least 48 hours to brill a hole big enough to free the trapped miners.

Todd Russell, left, and Brant Webb. Photo: Janie Barrett, Supplied

First food and water Monday May 1. Rescuers drill a 90mm PVC access pipe through the rock, through which the trapped men are given water, food, vitamins, space blankets, fresh clothing, plastic bags and glo-sticks.

(From left) Todd Russell’s brother Stephen, brother-in-law Tim Scott, sister Lisa Scott, mother Kaye and sister Mandy Adams celebrate the news of Todd and Brant’s survival. Photo: AAP

Trapped miners in high spirits Tuesday May 2. The trapped men are reported as being in remarkable health and in good spirit despite frustrating delays in digging them free. Deciding it is too dangerous, rescue teams abandon drilling and blasting in favour of a $6 million raise borer, which literally turns rock into loose dirt and powder. Workers unload digging machinery at

Beaconsfield Gold Mine as efforts continue to reach Brant Webb and Todd Russell. Photo: Jason South

Tunnel underway Wednesday May 3. Rescuers continue to prepare the raise borer that will grind a one-metre tunnel through the remaining 12-16 metres of rock. Although the borer is capable of drilling through rock at a metre an hour, it proceeds at a slower pace due to concerns of further rockfalls. A medical team establishes contact with the men through a 12-metre long PVC pipe. The men receive toiletries, notes from families, iPods and their first solid food.

Acacia and Kiara Sulzberger place a floral tribute on the front gate of the Beaconsfield Gold Mine. Photo: Julian Smith

Freedom almost within grasp Thursday May 4. Sixteen-metre pilot tunnel, which will guide the powerful raise borer machine to its destination, is completed. At 8pm, the raise borer begins the second phase of the tunnel, using a one-metre diameter cutting head to grind through solid rock. The final breakthrough – probably to be completed by jackhammers – is potentially the most dangerous, due to fears of triggering further rockfalls. An unnamed co-worker says that Mr Russell and Mr Webb have declared they want to walk out of the mine, not be carried on stretchers.

The Beaconsfield mine. Photo: Jason South

Families visit Friday May 5. The raise borer has tunneled four metres. Families of the two miners visit the mine site and speak with management. The trapped men are given their first hot food in ten days – hot soup. AWU national secretary Bill Shorten says he would rather tip a Melbourne Cup winner than when the men would finally be free, but it is expected to be this weekend.

AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten outside the Beaconsfield mine. Photo: Trevor Collens

A long night Saturday May 6. Rescuers drill one-metre-diameter hole into the rock wall separating the trapped miners from freedom. On Saturday night, with their rescue apparently imminent, most of Beaconsfield gathers in the car park across from the mine. Jubilant at the thought their favourite sons would soon appear, miners and friends appear on television saying they will stay there until the men are free, Their hopes are dashed when another night passes with the two men still trapped underground.

Locals begin arriving at the scene in hope to see the miners out soon. Photo: Wayne Taylor WMT

Dashed expectations Sunday May 7 The rescue operation proceeds much more slowly than expected. Bill Shorten says hand-drilling and jack-hammering the rock is “like throwing Kleenex at stone”. Frustration sets in for the town, the mood blighted further by the sudden death from a heart attack of veteran TV reporter Richard Carlton at a media conference outside the mine. It is announced that the funeral of miner Larry Knight, 44, who died in the rock fall on Anzac Day, will be held in Launceston Tuesday.

Richard Carlton collapsed outside Beaconsfield Gold Mine and died on the way to hospital. Photo: Nine network

Rescuers final push Monday May 8. Rescuers had almost completed a 1.6 metre long horizontal section of tunnel. The rescue team had moved to a slightly faster blasting method, tackling the remaining rock with low-impact PCF explosives. The next step is to dig a 1.5 metre vertical shaft to where Mr Webb, 37 and Mr Russell, 34, have been trapped in a cramped cage for 13 nights.

A chunk of 500 million years old sandstone quartz from the Beaconsfield mine Photo: Trevor Collens

Free at last Thursday May 9. 6:00am. Brant Webb and Todd Russell walk back into the light after being trapped nearly a kilometer underground for two weeks. A doctor from the hospital where the two rescued miners are recovering has expressed his amazement at their condition and said they may not need to return to hospital after attending the funeral of their deceased comrade, Larry Knight, this afternoon. “We expect they may be in for only a short time and may not come back after the funeral of their colleague,” Dr Stephen Ayre from Launceston hospital said. Dr Ayre admitted he was “amazed” by their toughness and resilience, saying that the two had no real medical problems at all, with even the expected deep vein thrombosis not present. “The important thing is that they pay their respect to their colleague,” he said, both as a point of closure and to aid in moving on from their 14 day ordeal.

Russell and Webb walk out of the mine and hug family members. Photo: REUTERS/Ian Waldie