( CNN ) -- As he works around the clock trying to reach 33 trapped miners in Chile , an image flashes through Brandon Fisher 's mind : the clothes he saw hanging in their lockers . They left them behind on August 5 , the day they went into the depths of the gold and copper mine . `` Seeing things like that , it really gets you thinking , '' he said in an interview with CNN . Outside the mine , family members are keeping vigil at a place they call `` Camp Hope . '' Meanwhile , Fisher and a small crew of American drillers are the tip of the spear for Plan B , one of the three drilling teams racing to rescue the miners buried 2,300 feet below the ground . On Thursday , Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said the Plan B drill was expected to break through into the area where the miners are trapped by Saturday . It 's a moment Fisher and other rescuers have been looking forward to for weeks . Fisher said the Schramm T-130 rig -- normally used for boring water holes -- was 61 meters ( 200 feet ) away from its target Thursday night . It appeared likely that it would reach the miners ahead of the Plan A drill , normally used for drilling ventilation chimneys in mines and the Plan C method , normally used to drill for oil . `` You ca n't predict the down times , the breakages , the formation issues , '' Fisher said . `` I 've felt since we got here , that as long as we had some luck on our side , we 'd have a good chance of breaking through first . '' Fisher is based in Berlin , Pennsylvania , in the heart of the state 's mining country , thousands of miles from Chile . His company , Center Rock Inc. , aided in the rescue of nine miners who were trapped for more than four days after the 2002 collapse of the Quecreek Mine . He has drilled oil , gas and water holes -- and the foundation for the Trump Tower in Chicago , Illinois . But those assignments pale in comparison to the difficulties of rescuing 33 men who became trapped when the copper and gold mine they were working in collapsed around them . Even in the toughest times at the Atacama Desert mine , he said , thinking about the workers and their families has fueled rescuers ' efforts . `` That quickly sets you to where you need to be , '' he said . `` You look down at your feet and you realize that 2,000 feet below us , there 's 33 guys that are in a whole hell of a lot worse situation than we are . '' Depending on whether engineers decide to encase the rescue shaft with steel casing , the 33 miners could be extracted from the collapsed San Jose gold and copper mine between two and 10 days after breakthrough . Fisher , who only knows a few Spanish words , said he 's still not sure what he 'll say when they meet face-to-face . `` I think it 's just going to be a lot of handshakes and hugs ... It 's going to be an absolutely overwhelming sensation , '' he said . CNN 's Karl Penhaul contributed to this report .
Chile 's mining minister says the Plan B drill could break through Saturday . Brandon Fisher of Pennsylvania-based Center Rock Inc. is on the Plan B drilling team . He says the miners and their families are inspiring rescuers .