Everyone was hoping that it might be sooner, but at least it's near.
The evacuation of 33 miners trapped underground in Chile is likely to start on Wednesday, the country's mining minister has said.
Laurence Golborne was speaking after engineers had drilled through to the underground chamber where the miners are sheltering.
He said the top part of the shaft needed a steel casing that would take about a day and a half to assemble.
