A court in Chile has frozen the assets of the company which owns the mine where 33 men have been trapped for 50 days.
The BBC reports that the move was requested by the Chilean government, which wants the company to repay the cost of the miners' rescue.
The San Esteban mining company was in financial trouble even before the main access tunnel to its mine collapsed.
The company reportedly owes creditors more than $10 million.
An appraiser has been asked to report back to creditors in a month's time on whether the company should be declared bankrupt.
Rescuers continue to try to free the men but it's believed it'll be months yet before they can bring them to the surface.
