<p><br /> The evacuation process for the 33 miners trapped for more than two months will probably begin on Wednesday, according to Chile's mining minister.<br /> </p><p><br /> That's because the rescue team has decided to reinforce less than 96 meters of the rescue shaft in steel pipe.<br /> </p><p><br /> The rest of the escape shaft is exposed rock, and the rescue team has decided it's strong enough to provide for a smooth ride for the miners' escape capsule.<br /> </p><p><br /> Mining Minister Laurence Golborne set the date after the shaft was inspected with a video camera on Saturday following the completion of the hole earlier in the day, a success that set off celebrations by the miners underground and by their families and rescue workers on the surface.<br /> </p><p><br /> Golborne and other government officials have insisted the decision on whether to reinforce the whole shaft would be purely technical, based on the evidence and the expertise of a team of eight geologists and mining engineers.<br /> </p><p><br /> Golborne said the hole is in very good condition, and doesn't need to be cased completely.<br /> </p><p><br /> He said 16 pipes, each six meters long, would be welded together and inserted into the top of the hole, which curves like a waterfall at first before becoming nearly vertical for most of its depth. The work would begin immediately, he said.<br /> </p>
