Thirty-three miners trapped underground in Chile for nearly two months could be out sooner than thought.
Rescuers digging to reach the men say one of their drills has cut through 50m (164ft) of rock in 24 hours.
At that rate they could be ready to bring the men to the surface by the middle of October.
But they have warned that they could yet run into problems, and the government still says it could take until early November to get them out.
One of the three drills digging rescue shafts - the T-130 - has now penetrated more than 300m (984ft) of the 630m (2,066ft) of rock separating the miners from the surface.
"This headway is some of the best we have had and it is due to the better continuity we have had with this drill," Andrew Sougarret, the head of the rescue operation, said.
"We have reached 300m, which is the area where we have had the most unfavourable geological conditions, so hopefully we can think about maintaining this rhythm of drilling".
Relatives of the miners, who have been camped out at the San Jose mine since the men were trapped by a rock fall on 5 August, cheered when the progress was announced.
BBC News
