CASE STUDY: “LEADING THE RESCUE OF THE MINERS IN CHILE”

COURSE: LDP 604 DESIGN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION

NAME: WAIGURU LEILA WANJIRU
REGISTRATION NUMBER: L50/76280/2014

AN ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF MASTERS OF ARTS IN PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT.
3RD NOVEMBER, 2014

Chilean Miners’ Rescue
On 5th August, 2010 Chile hit the headlines with 33 miners drilling 2300 feet below the surface in a copper and gold mine in Atacama Desert, 800 kilometres North of Chile’s Capital Santiago were trapped by a massive cave- in.
Chilean Mining Minister, Laurence Golborne, who had accompanied President, Sebastian Pinera, on a state visit to Quito, Ecuador, got the news at 11pm shortly after their arrival. Golborne informed the president the following morning and flew to Santiago via Peru on commercial flights then took a Chilean Air force flight to Copiapo before a 45-kilometre drive to the mine, arriving on August 7.
Golborne, an engineer and entrepreneur, was recruited by the business friendly president who was inaugurated in March 2010 after success as Chief Executive of Censoud A, a large Chilean retail firm.
Just 4 months in office with no mining background, Golborne took charge of a widely viewed disaster recovery effort. 69 days later, all 33 miners were rescued. Crew Foreman Luiz Urzua led the 33 trapped miners to form a small society to ration food, preserve morale, and protect their scarce resources.
A surface team numbering hundreds had emerged under Golborne and three key lieutenants: Andre Sougarret (Engineering team),Rene Aguilar,(Golborne’s deputy) and Cristian Barra, cabinet chief interior ministry. They managed relations with the relatives and the government and together, they successfully rescued the 33 men on October 13.
Golborne faced among other critical decisions, whether to personally take