WtP -“But by the time they clear the jungle and blast out the rocks to make the roads that can bring in the trucks and borers and whatever else they need, and then dig down for half a kilometer, it could be months”
They could have already started digging. You don’t need a road for trucks unless you’re building something! They could have cleared a small area on top of the boys & started digging. They could have brought in the digging equipment with heavy-duty choppers!