Drilling into the mine has proved extremely difficult. [Source: BBC]
Rescuers in China have freed the first of a group of miners who have been trapped 600m underground for two weeks, state media report.
They have been trapped since an explosion closed the entrance tunnel to the Hushan gold mine in Shandong province on 10 January.
Eleven miners initially survived the collapse, but one later died.
A telephone connection has been set up and medicine and food have been lowered via a long, narrow tunnel.
The cause of the explosion that sealed the mine entrance is still not known.
The fate of another 11 miners trapped by the blast is unclear – authorities have been unable to communicate with them despite lowering food and messages into other areas of the mine.
The group discovered alive told rescuers they had established communication with a lone miner about 100m below them but had since lost touch with him.
