Comments: The Canadian uranium mine plans to mine uranium underground in VA, well we are wet, with high water tables......expect deaths,,,,,,Keep the uranium mining ban in VA! Wonder if this mining company was using "Best Practice"?????
Miners were worked 1,800 metres underground
The Associated Press
Posted: Dec 15, 2011 7:48 AM ET
Last Updated: Dec 15, 2011 7:41 AM
Seven miners were safely removed from an underground mine in northern Idaho after they were injured by a rock burst while working more than 1.6 kilometres deep, a mine company official said late Wednesday.
One of the miners was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while the other six were treated at the scene, Hecla Mining Co. spokeswoman Melanie Hennessey said.
The miners were working almost 1,800 metres underground when they were injured about 7:40 p.m. local time Wednesday by a rock burst, which is an explosion of rock caused by excessive pressure from the weight of the ground above. They were working in the Lucky Friday, one of the nation's deepest underground mines.
Initial reports indicated that the miners could be trapped, but that wasn't the case, Hennessey said.
"Everyone in the mine has been accounted for and the mine is currently closed," she said.
Read more:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/12/15/mine-idaho-accident-trapped.html
December 15, 2011 in City, Idaho
Lucky Friday rock burst registers on seismographs
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/dec/15/three-miners-hospitalized-lucky-friday-rock-burst/Lucky Friday workers face year-long mine closure
January 11, 2012 12:57 p.m. - Updated: 1:26 p.m.
Hecla Mining Company said this morning that it would close the Lucky Friday silver mine for a year to clean its main shaft as required by federal regulators, a move that will put 200-some miners and contract workers out of jobs.
The Coeur d’Alene company’s stock tumbled on the news to its lowest price in nearly two years. It closed down $1.23, or 21 percent, to $4.61. It was the lowest closing for Hecla since Feb. 8, 2010.
Federal mine inspectors, who are investigating accidents at the Mullan, Idaho, mine, closed down Lucky Friday’s main shaft last week as a result of hazards associated with sand and gravel buildup in the shaft. The vertical shaft is the underground silver mine’s main entrance and exit, and hauls both workers and materials.
Inspectors closed the shaft last Friday after determining that conditions flagged during a Dec. 20 inspection had not been fixed, said Amy Louviere, a spokeswoman for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
Hecla voluntarily closed a shaft providing secondary access to the mine on Friday until repairs are made. That shaft had also been cited for loose material, Louviere said.
In a news release, Hecla said compliance with the federal order “is expected to take through year-end.” The company added, “Production is expected to resume in early 2013.”
As a result, Hecla revised its expected 2012 silver production to about 7 million ounces, down from 9.5 million ounces.
The work involves shaving cement-like material from the sides of the shaft. The thickness of the material varies.
Two miners working for Hecla died at the Lucky Friday Mine last year. Larry “Pete” Marek, 53, was crushed under a 25-foot-high rock pile when his work area collapsed April 15. Brandon Lloyd Gray, 26, was buried in rubble Nov. 17 while trying to dislodge jammed rock. He died two days later.
In mid-December, seven miners were injured in a rock burst at the mine. Hecla said it would tunnel a 750-foot bypass to route workers away from a portion of the mile-long corridor where that rock burst happened.
About 275 people work at the mine.
During a conference call with analysts, Hecla CEO and president Phillips S. Baker, Jr., said to his knowledge, only one accident has ever been caused by the cement-like material falling — “it cut someone’s hand or someone’s face.”
Read more:
http://m.spokesman.com/stories/2012/jan/11/hecla-stock-tumbles-news-year-long-mine-closure/
Hecla Mining Company said this morning that it would close the Lucky Friday silver mine for a year to clean its main shaft as required by federal regulators, a move that will put 200-some miners and contract workers out of jobs.
The Coeur d’Alene company’s stock tumbled on the news to its lowest price in nearly two years. It closed down $1.23, or 21 percent, to $4.61. It was the lowest closing for Hecla since Feb. 8, 2010.
Federal mine inspectors, who are investigating accidents at the Mullan, Idaho, mine, closed down Lucky Friday’s main shaft last week as a result of hazards associated with sand and gravel buildup in the shaft. The vertical shaft is the underground silver mine’s main entrance and exit, and hauls both workers and materials.
Inspectors closed the shaft last Friday after determining that conditions flagged during a Dec. 20 inspection had not been fixed, said Amy Louviere, a spokeswoman for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
Hecla voluntarily closed a shaft providing secondary access to the mine on Friday until repairs are made. That shaft had also been cited for loose material, Louviere said.
In a news release, Hecla said compliance with the federal order “is expected to take through year-end.” The company added, “Production is expected to resume in early 2013.”
As a result, Hecla revised its expected 2012 silver production to about 7 million ounces, down from 9.5 million ounces.
The work involves shaving cement-like material from the sides of the shaft. The thickness of the material varies.
Two miners working for Hecla died at the Lucky Friday Mine last year. Larry “Pete” Marek, 53, was crushed under a 25-foot-high rock pile when his work area collapsed April 15. Brandon Lloyd Gray, 26, was buried in rubble Nov. 17 while trying to dislodge jammed rock. He died two days later.
In mid-December, seven miners were injured in a rock burst at the mine. Hecla said it would tunnel a 750-foot bypass to route workers away from a portion of the mile-long corridor where that rock burst happened.
About 275 people work at the mine.
During a conference call with analysts, Hecla CEO and president Phillips S. Baker, Jr., said to his knowledge, only one accident has ever been caused by the cement-like material falling — “it cut someone’s hand or someone’s face.”
Read more:
http://m.spokesman.com/stories/2012/jan/11/hecla-stock-tumbles-news-year-long-mine-closure/
