HUNTINGTON, Utah, Aug 9 (Reuters) - A deep drill being used by rescuers to find six miners trapped in a collapsed Utah mine is within hours of reaching the area where the men are believed to be, the mine's co-owner said on Thursday.

"We'll know in a matter of hours if we've hit the cavity where the men are or a block of solid coal," Robert Murray said in an interview on CNN.

Murray said the 2 1/2-inch (6 cm) drill had reached 1,570 feet (478 meters) below the surface on its way to its goal of 1,828 feet and was descending at 20 feet per hour. At that rate, it would take another 13 hours before the drill reaches the target area.

It would take two more hours for communication equipment to be lowered through the bore hole to determine whether the men are alive, Murray said.

The drill could be used to provide food, water, and air to the men, who were working in a shaft when a section of the Crandall Canyon coal mine in central Utah collapsed early on Monday.

Murray said if the men were not killed in the initial collapse "there is a very good chance that they are alive." He said there was good ventilation and plenty of water available to them.

"I am optimistic" he said.

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