Mosaic offers glimpse inside sinkhole -- sort of

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We're seeing a new view inside that huge sinkhole at Mosaic's New Wales mine in Mulberry.

Mosaic on Monday released drone video showing a cage full of electronics suspended above the cavity on a cable.

"That cable is similar to ones used at NFL football games when all the video goes across the field. It's the same type of cable and the same type of mechanism," explained Herschel Morris of Mosaic.

But instead of a TV camera, the apparatus held a LiDAR radar unit. The technology uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to provide three-dimensional mapping. The mapping will be used to position drilling equipment to begin the process of filling the hole with a sealant.

State scientists say radioactive water from the mine has reached the Floridan Aquifer, but based on monitoring of wells at nearby homes, they believe it has been contained on the Mosaic property.

Morris says the LiDAR mapping shows the visible cavity of the sinkhole is around 220 feet deep. He says at its widest, the cavity is 152 feet in diameter.

He says they will begin pumping concrete into the hole in mid-December and plan to finish in late May or early June. 

Mosaic expects the repairs will cost up to $50-million.