from the mine's entrance via spiraling underground ramps. Private, local, national and international resources cooperated in their rescue. The miners survived underground for 69 days until all were brought to the surface on 13 October 2010, a record period of time. This mine has been closed, but the industry of copper and gold mining is very important in the region. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Copiapó had 129,091 inhabitants (64,922 men and 64,169 women). Of these, 125,983 (97.6%) lived in urban areas and 3,108 (2.4%) in rural areas. The population grew by 27.9% (28,184 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. According to the same census, the religious affiliation in Copiapó, is the following: 75.97% Roman Catholic 10.74% Protestant 1.29% The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1.25% Jehovah's Witnesses 0.04% Judaism 0.03% Islam 0.02% Greek Orthodox 3.56% Other 7.10% None, atheism or agnosticism. Climate Copiapó has a desert climate (Köppen: BWh) with mild temperatures year round. Winters are mild with cool temperatures during the day, with a July maximum of and cool to cold temperatures during the night, averaging . The cold Humboldt Current offshore leads to cool summer temperatures for being inland on its low latitude, and contributes to the very low annual rainfall. Temperatures rarely fall below freezing. Most of the precipitation falls during this time of the year with June and July being the wettest months. While winters are normally dry, precipitation is highly variable. This was the case when June 1998 recorded of precipitation but generally, in most years, precipitation is rare. Summers are warm with a January average of and precipitation is virtually non-existent. Temperatures can occasionally exceed any time of the year. The average annual precipitation is , though this is highly variable, with some years recording no precipitation, as occurred in 1970, 1978, 1990, 1992-1993, and in 1998.. There are 3.2 days with measurable precipitation. The record high was in August 1972 and the record low was in June 1975. Economy Copiapó has a diversified and potential economy, but mining is the largest economic activity. The Copiapó Basin has a great deal of copper ore, mined by companies such as Minera Candelaria, which extracts copper near Tierra Amarilla, a neighboring commune. This generates a need for transportation, light industry, and services. "Small mining" represents over 30% of the production. The copper obtained by pirquineros (miners)