Owner Robert Murray has stayed close to the progress, continually updating both the general media and the miners' families since the incident occurred during the early morning hours Monday.

However, the three-day estimate is taking the best scenario possibilities into consideration.

"At that time we will know if they are alive or dead," Murray said.

"If the miners survive the concussion of the earthquake and damage to the mine, we will rescue them alive. There's plenty of air for them to survive for weeks, but we don't know."

The identities of the men are still largely unknown, according to the Associated Press. They range in age from their 20s to their 40s and three are Mexican citizens. As of Tuesday afternoon Utah time, no communications with the miners had been successful but rescue attempts were running along rapidly.

"Miners continue to work round the clock to locate the missing miners," the Mine Safety and Health Administration said in a statement.

"They are working in 12-hour shifts to rebuild damaged ventilation controls."

About 22 workers were to be underground during the day Tuesday, but no further statement or update was provided after 9.30am Eastern time.

"Equipment moves and equipment preparation are ongoing. A total of 12 mine rescue teams are available to go underground, with four teams currently onsite," MSHA added.

Murray confirmed the presence of 134 rescue team workers in one conference statement.

The attempts to reach the six are feverish, city councilwoman Julie Jones, the mother of a rescue worker, told national news service FOX News.

"[They're] actually in there digging with their hands, trying to do whatever they could to get these guys out," she said.

Progress towards where the miners are located, however, has left Murray "disappointed", he said in a press conference during the afternoon.

Just 310 feet of advancement has been achieved towards the workers in 30 hours, due to "geotechnical and geological" issues believed to be a bump that occurred near 4am local time, forcing rescuers to exit. MSHA district manager Allyn Davis said that the bump dislodged coal from the ribs.

As another method to reach the workers, surface crews were drilling two-inch vertical holes to the area Tuesday evening which can be used for communication and to drop supplies. Seismic listening devices are also being installed at the site, according to various reports.

Murray sets things straight

Murray expressed his anger regarding two key discrepancies Wednesday that centred on the reality of the situation versus what is being distributed to the public as news, including the production activities that Crandall Canyon, part of the Genwal complex owned by American Energy division Utah American, was engaged in.

The operation is a pillar mine, but was absolutely not engaged in retreat mining as reported by various media outlets.

"There are eight solid pillars around where the men are right now and I'm really not going to respond to this retreat mining anymore because it is invented by people who have motives that want to damage Murray Energy, Utah American and the United States coal industry for their own motives," Murray said.

"The pillars were not being removed here at the time of the accident."

He also maintained that the collapse of the mine followed an earthquake, not the other way around.

"The activity happened at one mile deep and the miners were at 1500ft – it could not have resulted from the mine," Murray said.

He added that the initial trembling at 2.48am Monday that measured 3.9 lasted 4.3 minutes.

"Bumps that we have in mining are instantaneous and don't last 4.3 minutes," he said.

"It was an earthquake. It had nothing to do with mining activity."

Utah Seismic Stations director Walter Arabasz has publicly disagreed, saying that no evidence exists that the earthquake caused the cave-in. It is being reported incorrectly, he added in his public statement, because the collapse was reported about an hour following the quake.

A seismologist for the organisation, Relu Burlacu, added in a public statement that it is too early to tell which came first, and also to rule out the occurrence of an earthquake altogether.

"When we locate an event, there are uncertainties," he said.

"We're not designed to locate a mining incident with high precision. The evidence we have right now, it's consistent with a mine collapse, but it doesn't mean we rule out other models that fit what we recorded.

"Right now we are trying to understand the relationship between the event we recorded and the collapse.

"We don't rule out the event as an earthquake, but we don't have any evidence to say the two are independent events."

Murray did commit to the families that he will remain onsite throughout efforts to find the miners.

"I will not leave this mine until those men are rescued," he said.

"The Lord has already decided whether they're alive or dead. But it's up to Bob Murray and my management to get access to them as quickly as we can."

Keep watching International Longwall News for further updates on this story.