The trapped miners, Todd Russell and Brant Webb are expected to be freed today after spending 11 uncomfortable nights almost one kilometre underground.
The men trapped in Tasmania's Beaconsfield Gold Mine are within reach of rescue workers, who are creating an escape tunnel through a delicate drilling operation.
The powerful drill is cutting a tunnel one metre in diameter that will then allow rescue workers to use hand drills in the final, delicate stage.
A rescuer will have to crawl along the narrow tunnel and break through the final crust of rock from below.