Noises in Utah mine raise hopes

Mine owner Bob Murray (r) has refused to give up hope

Devices monitoring sound in a Utah mine where six men have been trapped for 10 days have picked up noises, raising hopes the men are still alive.

"We saw some indication of noise for a period of about five minutes that we had not seen before," federal mine safety chief Richard Stickler said.

But he warned that the sounds picked up by six geophones could come from a rock breaking underground or an animal.

No contact has been made since a tunnel collapsed in the mine on 6 August.

Video from inside the mine, recorded after drilling a third borehole into the mountain, has also shown an undamaged area.

Mine owner Bob Murray said the camera lowered into the borehole revealed areas of the mine completely undamaged by the collapse that trapped the miners.

CRANDALL CANYON MINE Located in Manti-La Sal National Forest, 16 miles (25km) from Huntington Uses the "retreat mining" method, which experts say is one of most dangerous Coal pillars hold up area of mine's roof. When completely mined, pillars are pulled, causing intentional roof collapse Mine layout and location

The footage included evidence of a ventilation curtain, which Mr Murray said could have provided entry into an air pocket if the miners had made their way past it.

"There was no damage at all. The roof is intact; no ribs have outburst. The floors are in place - it looked as it did when we mined it.

"If the men went in there they could be alive."

A rescue official said the findings had created "a very small amount of hope and optimism" among the men's families.

Steady sounds

The unidentified sounds in the mine also raised some hopes, although rescue officials warned that they could have been made by rocks collapsing or by animals scurrying around the shaft.

Each of six geophones placed around the mountain picked up sounds on Wednesday, they said.

The vibrations were detected in a steady pattern, for about five minutes.

"We have no idea what that sound is, but we are going to know when we get the fourth hole down there," Mr Murray told the Associated Press.

Experts say the chances of finding the miners alive are now slim.

Initially the collapse was blamed on an earthquake, but experts have since suggested the shafts might have caved in with enough force to register on seismographs.

This has led to speculation that mining procedures could have triggered the incident.