<p><br /> Chile's mining minister says a shaft wide enough to rescue 33 miners should reach the men by Saturday.<br /> </p><p><br /> Laurence Golborne said that once the drill breaks through, it could take anywhere from three to ten more days to pull the miners to safety.<br /> </p><p><br /> The countdown cannot begin until engineers they determine whether to insert a steel sleeve in the shaft.<br /> </p><p><br /> That could reduce the risk of something going wrong on the miners' way up, but lowering the pipe through curved sections of the shaft could also be risky.<br /> </p><p><br /> Expectations have been high amongst the families that a rescue is only a matter of days away, after the country's president said this week that his government was close to pulling the trapped miners to safety.<br /> </p><p><br /> Sebastian Pinera said he hoped to be there in person to see the rescue before leaving on a trip to Europe on October 17.<br /> </p>
