(CNN) -- A large oil drilling platform is on its way to the Chilean mine where 33 trapped miners are awaiting rescue and is expected to arrive later Thursday or Friday, an engineer overseeing the drilling said.
According to Andre Sougarret, the 42-truck convoy carrying the drill was in the area of Antofagasta, Chile, approximately 500 kilometers (311 miles) north of the San Jose mine.
Other pieces of equipment will arrive from Puntarenas, Chile, and Bolivia, he said.
The oil platform will be part of Plan C, the third operation to drill to reach the miners. Chilean mining officials have said they believe that drill will dig faster than the other drills currently at work. But they cautioned that the miners, trapped since August 5, still may not be rescued until December.
Progress on the other two rescue operations was mixed, Sougarret said. The drill being used in Plan A -- a type usually used in mining operations -- reached a depth of 171 meters (187 yards) Thursday, 40 more meters (about 44 yards) since an update given by officials Wednesday. The Plan B drill, usually used to drill water bore holes, hit a snag at 268 meters (293 yards), Sougarret said, when it struck a reinforcement beam used in the mine's operations.
CNN
