Rescuers are making progress in their attempt to contact five workers trapped in a Chilean mine.

SANTIAGO (AP) — Rescue teams searching for five workers trapped in Chile's El Teniente mine after a collapse that left at least one dead have made progress toward the collapsed area and to a depth where the miners are believed to be, although they have still not made contact with them, authorities reported Saturday.

Andrés Music, general manager of the El Teniente division, told the press that the search has begun in alternative areas to the central shaft, which could be connected this afternoon after completing another 70 meters of excavation. He added that a witness saw the workers about 20 minutes before the collapse in a safe area and that there are many shelters within the mine where they could take cover.

President Gabriel Boric arrived at the scene—about 100 kilometers south of Santiago—on Saturday morning to meet with the workers' families and join the search operation, along with members of his cabinet, the Rancagua Attorney General's Office, and the Investigative Police (PDI).

The president pledged to make every effort "using all available technology, not in Chile, but in the world," to locate the trapped workers.

The company, for its part, announced in a statement the addition of former Minister of Energy and Mining, Laurence Golborne, to the International Council of the El Teniente Division, a group that, it said, will contribute technical and strategic expertise to emergency management.

The National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) reported Friday that the disaster occurred at El Teniente, the world's largest underground copper mine, due to a "collapse caused by an earthquake in the area" of the Machalí commune in the O'Higgins region, about 100 kilometers from Santiago.

State-owned mining company Codelco confirmed that the deceased, identified as Paulo Marín Tapia, was a worker at the Andesita Project, a 25-kilometer tunnel complex with 85 extraction points in El Teniente.

Authorities are investigating whether the tremor was caused by a natural earthquake that struck the region Thursday afternoon or whether it was caused by activities inside the mine.

"So far, nine additional people have been identified with injuries of varying severity, but not life-threatening," the company said in a statement.

Music stated the day before that the earthquake caused landslides and rockfalls that have "collapsed" access to the mine's galleries, some 900 meters below the surface. "We know exactly where they are," he said, but clarified that "we have had no contact."

Nearly 500 people were evacuated in the area following the accident, while another 2,500 workers from the mining complex were also relocated to "refugee areas" after emergency protocols were activated.

Chile is known for its intense mining activity and is home to some of the world's largest copper and lithium reserves and mines, as well as producing gold, silver, iron, and lead, among other metals. However, accidents at mining operations are not uncommon, often due to the thousands of earthquakes that strike the country each year.

In February, a collapse in an underground mine in the northern Atacama region left three workers dead. Likewise, the country witnessed one of the most dramatic rescues in its history in 2010, after 33 miners were trapped underground in the San José mine, also in the north, for more than two months, in a highly publicized case whose images were broadcast worldwide.