Lima, July 21 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Four employees of a mining company are still missing in the rainforest of Peru, after they left their posts on July 11 to survey the local land.

The four workers were part of a larger group of nine people who left the Río Blanco Copper office in the northern town of Huancabamba on July 4 to begin a special land surveying project of a former mining camp in the jungle district of Carmen de la Frontera.

The group of four were separated from the rest of the group and lost contact with them on July 11, even though they were equipped with satellite phones and GPS systems, according to other members of the team.

Among the missing include geologist Manuel Herrera, chef Secondo Tocure, journalist Aleida Davila, and surveyor Orlando Pastrana. According to media reports, after being lost for nine days, the four workers are believed to be completely without food at this point. “As we told the group of workers who did return, the four who disappeared no longer have food,” said one of the Rio Blanco Copper staff. “They're just relying on water and forest food now. We hope to find them soon and alive. We do not lose hope.”

A team of some 100 people are searching for the missing specialists by air and water.