More machinery coming to find missing Idaho miner

[April 19, 2011]  BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Rescuers are expanding their arsenal of digging machines in the effort to locate a silver miner who has been missing since a tunnel more than a mile underground collapsed four days ago.

The newest effort to determine if Larry Marek is still alive will use a diamond drill to bore a 2-inch hole from another tunnel. Officials at the Lucky Friday mine, tucked into the forested mountains of the Idaho Panhandle's Silver Valley, hope it finds an open area that could have provided Marek refuge behind the cave-in.

It may take as long as two days for the drill to get through about 185 feet of solid earth, said Melanie Hennessey, a spokeswoman for Hecla Mining Co., where Marek has worked for 12 years.

Officials did not know Marek's condition, and they have not had contact with him since Friday's collapse.

Rescuers faced mounting obstacles Monday as they tried to clear debris and dislodge boulders that stand in the way of finding the 53-year-old.

"It's been very different every day," Hennessey said. That's because of the complexity of the fallen ground, which is up to 20 feet wide and 25 feet high, more than twice as high previously thought.

Workers, who had lowered a remote-controlled digging machine called a mucker into the mine to speed rescue efforts, were awaiting the arrival of an electrical component so they could employ a digger with larger capacity.

Meanwhile, they engaged in the complex and time-consuming task of shoring up the caved-in tunnel to make it safe for rescuers. Officials said a crew had placed timber supports in only several more feet of tunnel over a span of about 12 hours.

"The amount of work needed to do the 4 feet, given the increase in height, is tremendous," Hennessey said, adding the speed of the advance depends on the material rescuers encounter.

Hecla officials said Monday that workers had advanced a total of 39 feet into the collapsed area, which could be as long as 75 feet.

It's unclear if Marek had communication equipment with him at the time of the accident; it could have been left in a vehicle he was using at the time.

Marek and his brother, another mine worker, had just finished watering down blasted-out rock and ore on existing mining areas when the collapse occurred about 75 feet from the end of the 6,150-foot deep tunnel, according to the company. His brother was able to escape.

The family asked for the media to respect its privacy as it awaits news.

Hecla said all mining activity has been halted for the rescue effort. Officials said they will focus on how the collapse occurred once the rescue is complete.

The mine in Mullan, Idaho, employs roughly 275 workers, about 50 of whom were underground in various parts of the mine when the collapse occurred, Hennessey said.

On its website, Hecla describes itself as the oldest U.S.-based precious metals mining company in North America and the largest silver producer in the U.S. The Coeur d'Alene company currently produces silver from two mines, Greens Creek and Lucky Friday, which has been operational since 1942.

Silver prices have soared about 38 percent this year, and Hecla is spending $200 million to increase its production of the metal by about 60 percent. The upgrades will extend the life of the Lucky Friday mine beyond 2030.

Hecla appears to have a good record of health and safety at Lucky Friday.

The mine has reported no fatalities dating back to 2000, according to a Mine Safety and Health Administration database. The federal regulator has cited the mine for violations, but none in the last year specifically tied to the kind of accident that occurred Friday.

In 2009, the company agreed to pay $177,500 in fines for violating federal clean water laws at Lucky Friday. EPA investigators said the mine exceeded discharge levels for metals such as lead, zinc, cadmium and suspended solids between September 2008 and February 2009. Discharges flow into the South Fork Coeur d'Alene River above the town of Mullan.

Like mining areas around the world, northern Idaho is not immune to accidents, some of them tragic. Last June, a miner was killed in the Galena Mine in nearby Silverton after a rock slab fell on him.

In 1972, 91 miners were killed in a fire about 3,700 feet underground inside the Sunshine Mine between Kellogg and Wallace.

[Associated Press; By JOHN MILLER]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.