Copiapo , Chile ( CNN ) -- A `` Plan C '' oil drill to reach 33 miners trapped in Chile is scheduled to start in earnest early Wednesday amid hopes it will provide a faster solution than the other two methods used . But officials do not know how long it will take the drill , normally used in to drill for oil , to reach the men trapped 700 meters ( 2,300 feet ) underground . By Wednesday afternoon , the Plan C drill reached 40 meters , officials said . The plan is for the new drill to descend vertically for at least 40 meters before turning at an angle to reach the underground ramp that leads to the miners , said Andre Sougarret , manager of the state copper mining company . Sougarret said that attaching directional motors to the drill would slow it to a speed of 1 meter per hour , adding that 20 to 30 meters per day `` would be a good average . '' Under optimal conditions , it is capable of drilling 1,000 meters in 24 hours , said Juan Carlos Marin , a site representative for Schlumberger oil services company . Meanwhile , the Plan A drill was 366 meters in , and the Plan B drill , which was widening a hole it made , was at 85 meters , Sougarret said . The Plan B drill was temporarily halted Wednesday after the drill bit came loose and fell down the mine , he said . `` We felt a loss of pressure , and the miners called us to say the bit had fallen into the mine , '' Sougarret said . Officials believe that the malfunction occurred after the drill moved from hard rock to softer material . The bit that fell will remain in the mine , and a spare drill bit will be used , officials said . Government engineers are finalizing designs for three rescue capsules , which will be sent down the completed rescue shaft to extract the miners one by one , according to Sougarret . The capsules will take 10 to 12 days to build . Sougarret said the largest of the miners measures 48 inches around the shoulders . The `` design of the capsule is being completed with this in mind , '' Sougarret said . Despite the fact that Plan C is capable of significantly higher speeds than drills A and B , Sougarret would not move up the expected date of the miners ' rescue . `` My sources are the technical indicators , and we are still working toward the beginning of November , '' Sougarret said . Engineers are dealing with hard rock and a much smaller area than they normally encounter , Marin said . `` When we drill for oil , we have a much bigger target area of perhaps 50 or 60 meters . Here we have a margin of error of just 4 meters , '' he said . The need for precision in this drilling operation means the drill will move much more slowly , he said , but he gave no precise predictions . `` If we did not have such a specific objective at 700 meters , then we could do this in two days , '' he said . `` But what changes all this is that we have to reach an objective with precision , and so we do not know how long that could take . '' For now , the company has told Chilean officials that it could take 40 days to complete the work , he said . He did not say whether time it took to assemble the rig and drill the pilot hole was included in that time frame . Two other drills are also trying to reach the miners , who have been trapped since the August 5 cave-in . The drills , dubbed Plan A and Plan B , each require two holes to be drilled and have been moving at a rate of 30 or 40 meters a day . Officials are planning how they will bring the miners to the surface once a bore hole is wide enough for the task . The daunting rescue may require an oxygen-fed cage that will haul them up one at a time . Previously , officials have said that the workers could be rescued , if all goes well , in late October or early November . `` When I look at their faces on their video they have sent to the surface , I would love to have them out by tomorrow , '' Marin said . CNN 's Esprit Smith and Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report .
The Plan C option is normally used to drill for oil . The 33 miners have been trapped since August 5 . Rescuers are using three drilling methods to reach them .