Copiapo, Chile (CNN) -- Rescuers in Chile expect to reach 33 trapped miners as early as mid-October -- sooner than previously expected.
Crews could reach the miners between October 15 and October 30, Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said Friday. Officials had said earlier that it would be November.
The first test of a rescue capsule was carried out successfully Thursday.
Once one of the three drills working to reach the trapped miners breaks through, the rescue capsule will be lowered at least 600 meters (1,968 feet) to begin ferrying the men to the surface.
The men, trapped since August 5, have been surviving on supplies funneled to them from above ground through earlier bore holes, each about four inches in diameter.
CNN
