Beaconsfield re-opens

Part of an Australian gold mine where two miners survived for 14 days trapped underground after a cave-in last year has reopened, with machines replacing miners in the area of the mine that collapsed.

Todd Russell and Brant Webb captured world attention in April 2006 when they were trapped in a small wire cage almost a kilometre underground, under tonnes of rock. A third miner, Larry Knight, was killed.

Beaconsfield Gold, which owns Beaconsfield mine in Tasmania, said because the area is still subject to seismic activity, remote-controlled machines would be used for drilling in the western section.