At 900 meters depth in the copper mine, the workers are trapped behind about 20 meters of rubble. The rescue operation has now made its way through four meters.
"We have not made contact yet, but the conditions have improved thanks to decreased seismic activity", says the owner company Codelco's CEO Rubén Alvarado in a statement.
About 100 people are participating in the operation. It is still unclear if the five are alive.
Chile accounts for nearly a quarter of the world's copper production, and the mine produced almost seven percent of the country's copper last year.
