MNeagle
17th November 2013, 04:59 PM
OURAY – A mining accident early Sunday morning at the Revenue-Virginius mine in Ouray County has killed two miners and sent 20 to the region's hospitals.
According to information provided by Ouray County at approximately 3:20 p.m. Sunday, a rescue was initiated for two miners who remained underground and both have been confirmed as fatalities at the site by the Ouray County Coroner's office. Identities of the fatalities have not been released.
Twenty people have been taken to various hospitals in the region with one person reportedly in critical condition and taken to Montrose Memorial Hospital.
An additional nine people were transported by ambulance to MMI; five were transported to Delta Memorial Hospital and five people were taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction.
Ouray County did not have any updated information about the condition of those 20 miners, nor identities of those miners.
The accident occurred at approximately 7:20 a.m. Sunday morning. The Ouray County Sheriff’s Office received a call from 911 dispatch that there was an incident at the Revenue-Virginius mine requiring response. The Sheriff’s office, along with Ouray Fire District, and Ouray County EMS responded.
Rory Williams, project manager for Star Mining Operations, the operator of the Revenue-Virginius, said at approximately 11 a.m. today that the accident is not related to a cave-in or mine collapse, and that apparently a “powder-smoke incident,” and the release of chemicals, injured the affected miners.
Williams, reached en route to Ouray from the Front Range, said he has not been notified of any fatalities.
Star Mine Operations, has confirmed that they have accounted for all personnel who were on site. According to Ouray County, the company is also in the process of contacting the listed emergency contacts of the miners who have been transported to the various hospitals. The Mine Safety and Health Administration is involved and on-site.
Montrose Memorial Hospital spokesperson Leann Tobin confirmed that the hospital has received one patient by helicopter so far, and is expecting more.
"We have five to seven coming here now. We currently have four and have discharged one," Tobin told The Watch. “Five are going to Delta, and five going to St. Mary's.”
Tobin could not elaborate on the conditions of those patients, but said that at the hospital, "Everything is really running smoothly right now."
The historic Revenue-Virginius silver mine is located 6.9 miles south of Ouray near Yankee Boy Basin; its roughly 100 workers come from Ouray, Montrose and San Juan counties. Star Mine acquired the property through a lease-purchase agreement in late 2011, and started working to stabilize and ready the historic silver mine for production. In January, the Colorado Department of Reclamation, Mining and Safety approved its mine permit application, “with conditions.” By February, underground crews worked around the clock, in three shifts, to stabilize tunnels and build dry room facilities. In its heyday, between 1876 and the late 1940s, the mine produced more than 14.5 million ounces of silver, weathering the Silver Panic of 1893, while many other silver mines in the region and across the West failed.
– William Woody, Samantha Wright and Gus Jarvis contributed to this reporting.
http://www.watchnewspapers.com/view/full_story/24072039/article-Breaking--Two-Dead--20-Hospitalized-in-Mine-Accident
Read more: Watch Newspapers - Breaking Two Dead 20 Hospitalized in Mine Accident
According to information provided by Ouray County at approximately 3:20 p.m. Sunday, a rescue was initiated for two miners who remained underground and both have been confirmed as fatalities at the site by the Ouray County Coroner's office. Identities of the fatalities have not been released.
Twenty people have been taken to various hospitals in the region with one person reportedly in critical condition and taken to Montrose Memorial Hospital.
An additional nine people were transported by ambulance to MMI; five were transported to Delta Memorial Hospital and five people were taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction.
Ouray County did not have any updated information about the condition of those 20 miners, nor identities of those miners.
The accident occurred at approximately 7:20 a.m. Sunday morning. The Ouray County Sheriff’s Office received a call from 911 dispatch that there was an incident at the Revenue-Virginius mine requiring response. The Sheriff’s office, along with Ouray Fire District, and Ouray County EMS responded.
Rory Williams, project manager for Star Mining Operations, the operator of the Revenue-Virginius, said at approximately 11 a.m. today that the accident is not related to a cave-in or mine collapse, and that apparently a “powder-smoke incident,” and the release of chemicals, injured the affected miners.
Williams, reached en route to Ouray from the Front Range, said he has not been notified of any fatalities.
Star Mine Operations, has confirmed that they have accounted for all personnel who were on site. According to Ouray County, the company is also in the process of contacting the listed emergency contacts of the miners who have been transported to the various hospitals. The Mine Safety and Health Administration is involved and on-site.
Montrose Memorial Hospital spokesperson Leann Tobin confirmed that the hospital has received one patient by helicopter so far, and is expecting more.
"We have five to seven coming here now. We currently have four and have discharged one," Tobin told The Watch. “Five are going to Delta, and five going to St. Mary's.”
Tobin could not elaborate on the conditions of those patients, but said that at the hospital, "Everything is really running smoothly right now."
The historic Revenue-Virginius silver mine is located 6.9 miles south of Ouray near Yankee Boy Basin; its roughly 100 workers come from Ouray, Montrose and San Juan counties. Star Mine acquired the property through a lease-purchase agreement in late 2011, and started working to stabilize and ready the historic silver mine for production. In January, the Colorado Department of Reclamation, Mining and Safety approved its mine permit application, “with conditions.” By February, underground crews worked around the clock, in three shifts, to stabilize tunnels and build dry room facilities. In its heyday, between 1876 and the late 1940s, the mine produced more than 14.5 million ounces of silver, weathering the Silver Panic of 1893, while many other silver mines in the region and across the West failed.
– William Woody, Samantha Wright and Gus Jarvis contributed to this reporting.
http://www.watchnewspapers.com/view/full_story/24072039/article-Breaking--Two-Dead--20-Hospitalized-in-Mine-Accident
Read more: Watch Newspapers - Breaking Two Dead 20 Hospitalized in Mine Accident