Rescuers have completed a crucial stage in the operation to free the two men who have been trapped in the Beaconsfield gold mine in northern Tasmania since Tuesday last week.
The mine manager Matthew Gill says work has finished on drilling a 2.2cm diameter pilot hole in the 16m of solid rock that separates Todd Russell and Brant Webb from rescue.
He says it will take most of the day to fit a larger blade to a special boring machine, needed to begin drilling the one metre-wide rescue hole to get to the two men.
Mr Gill says he has been down to the site of the rescue operation, and he's pleased with the progress being made.
"I can report that the two were having a sleep, so I didn't wake them up. [There was] a lot activity going on, but they're well. They had a feed of yoghurt this morning including licking the lid clean. They had a 5-hour sleep. That was one of their best sleeps, and that seems to have perked them up. So far so good."