Rescuers started drilling a new channel 71 centimeters in diameter on Wednesday at the Hushan gold mine in East China's Shandong province, where an explosion on Jan 10 trapped 22 workers underground.

The channel will be used to lift out the trapped workers, officials at rescue headquarters said. Meanwhile, rescuers are working around-the-clock to clear the major shaft that was previously used by workers to enter and exit the mine.

A medical rescue team sent down some Laba porridge to trapped workers through a drilled channel on Wednesday for the Laba Festival, a traditional Chinese festival that precedes Chinese Lunar New Year.

Eleven of the miners were found Sunday through a channel drilled through the same day. They talked with rescuers on Monday after a wired telephone was sent down through the channel.

The discussion revealed that 11 miners were stuck in one section of the mine and one person in another, while the whereabouts of the other 10 workers are still unknown.