MULLAN, Idaho — A rescue team worked to find a missing miner at a northern Idaho silver mine Saturday by clearing debris from a collapsed tunnel more than a mile underground, officials said.
Hecla Mining Co. president Phil Baker said the collapse at the Lucky Friday Mine occurred Friday afternoon close to where two employees were working. One worker escaped without injuries, but there has been no contact with the other, whose condition was unknown.
The missing miner’s name was not released.
“We are doing every effort possible to expedite this in a safe manner,” said Melanie Hennessey, a company spokeswoman. “It is a rescue mission.”
The mine is tucked into the forested mountains of Mullan, a historic mining town of 840 people in Idaho’s Panhandle. Baker said additional equipment was being flown in so crews could use a front-end loader remotely to dig away material clogging the tunnel.
“We’re securing the ground as we go,” Baker said. “We’re doing everything we can to reach the employee. We’re just very concerned for the miner and his family right now.”
Mike Dexter, another Hecla spokesman, said the two employees had just finished watering down blasted-out rock and ore when the collapse occurred about 75 feet from the end of the 6,150-foot deep tunnel. Officials say it is unclear whether the entire 75-foot section collapsed, or only a portion of it, possibly leaving the miner trapped on the other side.
The mine employs roughly 275 workers, about 50 of whom were underground in various parts of the mine when the collapse occurred, Hennessey said.
