( CNN ) -- A large oil drilling platform is on its way to the Chilean mine where 33 trapped miners are awaiting rescue and is expected to arrive later Thursday or Friday , an engineer overseeing the drilling said . According to Andre Sougarret , the 42-truck convoy carrying the drill was in the area of Antofagasta , Chile , approximately 500 kilometers ( 311 miles ) north of the San Jose mine . Other pieces of equipment will arrive from Puntarenas , Chile , and Bolivia , he said . The oil platform will be part of Plan C , the third operation to drill to reach the miners . Chilean mining officials have said they believe that drill will dig faster than the other drills currently at work . But they cautioned that the miners , trapped since August 5 , still may not be rescued until December . Progress on the other two rescue operations was mixed , Sougarret said . The drill being used in Plan A -- a type usually used in mining operations -- reached a depth of 171 meters ( 187 yards ) Thursday , 40 more meters ( about 44 yards ) since an update given by officials Wednesday . The Plan B drill , usually used to drill water bore holes , hit a snag at 268 meters ( 293 yards ) , Sougarret said , when it struck a reinforcement beam used in the mine 's operations . The men have been trapped for 35 days now , 2,300 feet under the earth . When rescuers first found them , the miners told officials they had survived for more than 17 days by sharing a jar of peaches and small amounts of tuna and mackerel that were in their shelter . Officials were weighing how to best proceed after the problem with the Plan B drill but said the drill bit would have to be retrieved and replaced . `` It was totally destroyed , '' Sougarret explained . The Plan B device , which had been drilling for less time than Plan A 's drill and had already surpassed its distance , also had a problem Wednesday with a cable malfunction . The drill is widening a hole already drilled into the mine . Sougarret said that once it begins drilling again , it could reach its target -- a workshop used by the miners -- within several days . Then a larger drill could be used until the hole is wide enough so that the miners can be hoisted out , one at a time , in a small cage . At Camp Hope , the tent camp set up by miners ' families holding vigil , residents eagerly scanned the rocky horizon for any sign of the caravan bearing the Plan C drill . `` I wish it were here already , '' said Milton Alvalos , whose nephew is one of those trapped . As residents waited for the arrival of the newest weapon in the arsenal being used to rescue the miners , workers walked the route the convoy will take to make sure the heavy trucks will clear the winding road into camp . `` Just the logistics part is the tough part , getting the people and equipment to where you need it . We 've got to figure out the route [ and the ] power lines , '' said Shaun Robstad , who was coordinating the equipment 's arrival for Precision Drilling , a Canadian oil drilling company . `` We do this all the over the world , '' Robstad said , but always for oil , never before for trapped humans . `` This is a first . ''
It 's expected to arrive Thursday or Friday , an engineer overseeing the drilling said . Platform , called Plan C , will be part of operation to drill to reach the miners . Plan A drill is making progress ; Plan B drill has hit a snag . Comment: